A/N: Absolute schmaltz. Thank you for reading and commenting. I love doing this and your reviews is a reward to an already satisfying experience.

Kim texted Jack when she finished her shift at the hospital. He still had his own shift at the dojo and she sighed thinking that she probably wouldn't see him again today. Now that they were back in school and had worked hard on their grades and extra curriculars and tried to save money for college it was harder and harder to find time to be together.

She was making her way to her car when he sent his terse response: Keep the window open.

Kim smiled at the text, returning the phone to her pocket and walking faster to the car.

If she thought about how strange it was that it was almost routine for Jack to show up through the window of her room, she shrugged it off as 'their thing.' There were many little details that fell into that category.

'Their thing...' She smiled at the expression. Ever since that fateful trip to Scotland, she and Jack referred to their relationship as 'their thing' more often than not. Of course, it was mostly in joking and passing. She liked to think it was because what they meant for each other could not be reduced to mere boyfriend/girlfriend labels. Sometimes she thought that Jack was too grateful to have a chance at a relationship with her and would not deign to call it simply 'dating.' And sometimes she thought sadly that Jack was still unsure he deserved any chance with her and would not dare to call their relationship anything at all as if afraid to somehow jinxed them.

Those moments came less and less often.

Not long after Jack sent the text, she heard the sounds of someone climbing up the tree outside her window and she saw his face pop up in the glass.

"Enough space in here for me?" he asked, hovering on cill as Kim rolled her eyes and moved over to her bed. Her room wasn't tiny, just one of the smallest in the house. But, it had its own bathroom and Kim appreciated it more and more each day. Jack slithered in with the natural grace of an athlete and soon they were laid out on her bed side by side, bodies close from shoulders to their feet. Well, her foot and his shin. Jack kept growing and now towered over her.

As usual, he didn't initiate any touching.

It was another one to be labeled 'their thing.' Jack was unfailingly a gentleman and always waited for her to start any intimate contact. Although, he was confident enough in himself to hold her hand and hug her close to himself in public.

Which he did often enough. A vestige of the fear he felt since Scotland: he was worried about her to the point of distraction and being close to her, or at least to be in her presence, was how he dealt with it. He rationalized that her 'sensitivity' to the otherworldly beings might exhibits itself in America as well and he wasn't going to let it slip past his notice. She didn't mind. She herself was often worried about him: not that he would be possessed again, but that he would fall into the dark thoughts about his own imagined failures.

She shifted closer to him and pressed a light kiss to his jaw, where she could reach him. He tensed and she pulled back to take a look at him. He was looking at her and his eyes were dark and soft.

"Okay?" she whispered and almost laughed. Another little bit of 'their thing.'

"I think so. But you should it again, so we can confirm it," he said seriously, but laughter danced in his eyes and she giggled and stretched up to kiss him properly now.

"Still okay?" was said against his lips.

"Yeah..." Jack's voice dropped lower in that moment and she shivered at that.

They were still side by side, but the angle was off and her neck strained to keep contact like that. She made a frustrated little huff, causing Jack to smile - a smile she felt rather than saw. She almost wanted to glare at him, when he pulled her closer and gently lifted her to place her over him.

This was new for them and Jack made it happen, so she was caught between the desire to keep kissing him and the wonder at this development. She must have hesitated a fraction too long, because his hands dropped from where he was holding her hips.

"This okay?" it was his turn to ask and she saw doubt in those warm eyes.

"Better than okay," she smiled back and went for another kiss.

The angle was much more improved now.

She was reading her texts, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even have to look to know it was Jack. They usually met by the lockers to go to lunch together.

"Something's up?" he nodded at her phone.

"Nah... Just Isla telling me about how cold it is in Turlann right now. She's jealous we don't have to bundle up in three layers in winter."

His face grew somber and she bumped him with her shoulder, "Hey. You alright?"

"No, just... I wonder if I could ever hear words like Scotland or Turlann or ghosts without immediately thinking about that."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I always feel uneasy when I'm near lakes or ponds. For the same reasons."

He was now more concerned than sad, "Do yo keep that locket that Isla gave you?"

"Of course, Jack," she refrained from rolling her eyes at his worry. "It's on me always. And you are here to keep an eye on me."

"Always," he vowed easily, but no less seriously. "I'll always be here."

Kim blushed and wondered if he knew what he was doing to her with those kind of words. He was serious and she believed him, but had to wonder how long this 'always' would last. As it was, her heart was hopelessly lost to him and she wanted 'their thing' to last forever.

Kim was looking at the letter in her hands and felt like the bottom of her stomach fell. She was lightheaded and almost nauseous. If she could, she would swoon, but she didn't want to attract attention of Jack and her friends.

"You alright?" predictably it was Jack who noticed her slightly stunned expression. He moved one palm to test the temperature on her forehead and she was very near embarrassing herself by crying at the sweet caring gesture.

"Uhhnnn... I'm fine. Just, you know, girls' stuff," she mumbled and shot out of the booth and into the bathroom.

Once there - and it really was a testament to how distressed she was that she willingly went into Phil's bathrooms - she used a wet paper towel as a makeshift compress and pressed it against her forehead and back of the neck. It helped a little, enough for her to pull the letter again and look at the innocent texts.

"It is with great pleasure that we offer you a place at the Otai Academy this coming school year. Please respond-" the letters ran together and stopped making sense as her emotions overtook her again.

She almost jumped in fright when the door opened and she saw Milton's face in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" she struggled to remain polite, but her emotions were running high.

"I can ask you the same thing. And if you don't want Jack barging in here, you better collect yourself and be ready to smile like nothing happened." Milton said mildly and then gave her an apologetic smile, "You practically ran to the bathroom and he is worried."

Of course, he noticed her weirdness and now is worried. Probably thinks it's something dangerous, like ghosts.

"Did something happen, Kim?" Milton asked gently and she couldn't stop her own nod. "What is it?"

"It's Otai," she proffered him her letter. "They are offering me a spot."

There was a long silence and she appreciated that Milton thought about this news - about implications of this news thoroughly.

"Are you going to accept?"

"I- I don't know..." she exhaled a heavy breath. "I just don't know. If it was last year, my answer would have been almost definitely 'yes,' but now... Now, I'm not so sure."

Milton knew what Kim was saying, what she was weighing in her mind.

"You'll know the right answer, Kim. Think and decide, but right now you have to come back before Jack and Jerry come here with a cross and a Bible verse."

She smiled at the jest and together they went back.

She saw Jack's worried eyes almost immediately and smiled at him, floored to see the palpable relief in them...

The next day she went to the post office to send her reply. The whole evening before and half the night she spent awake weighing her options, all the pros and contras and when the morning came, so did her answer. It was a light heart that she was placing the postage on the largish envelope.

When she stepped out,s he saw Jack lounging on the bench near the entrance.

"How did you-? Was it Milton?" she asked mildly, not surprised to find him here.

"It was your skittish behavior and the tell-tale envelope. You forge, but I received a similar one myself some time ago," his tone was neutral, but it was a studied indifference and she felt bad for keeping it from him. He was worried. Just like she was worried when he got his Otai letter.

She sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder and slid one hand into his. She squeezed it tightly, "Sorry for not telling you. I was- I don't know, but I guess, confused?"

He squeezed her hand back, "I get it. And I would be okay with whatever you decide, promise."

She should have been elated that her boyfriend was so understanding and supportive, but instead her heart seized a little to realize that he was willing to let her go because it could be better for her.

"I decided to decline their offer-" his head whipped so fast to look at her, she own head moved by his motion. She was looking directly into his eyes when she finished, "I realized that there are more important things."

She couldn't recall exactly if these were his words to her when it was his turn to decline Otai, but his smile told her that she got her message through.

Their kiss was the one that he started and it was a little too deep given the circumstances - it was morning and they were in front of the post-office - but they didn't care.

"You sure?" she whispered against her lips.

"Absolutely. I want to be here, with you."

"I knew you had crush on me even then," he said jokingly, but his eyes were sincere and open and vulnerable.

"So did you," she smiled back.

"I still do. In fact, I can do better than that. I- I love you."

She swore she could see blush rising in his cheeks, but she was too in the moment to even take proper notice.

"I love you too, Jack."

Their kiss was less heated now, but held a promise in it that she hoped would carry on.

Always.

A/N: I received a request for Kim/OC story. I have never thought of doing one like that, but there is definitely an advantage to doing a completely AU story. Any one else interested in a story with OC? Maybe some suggestions as to the plot?