Wow! The last chapter/epilogue is finally up! *Applause echoes throughout my room*

Disclaimer: If I ruled the world, I would own Big Time Rush. Unfortunately, I don't rule the world, and I don't own Big Time Rush. And yes, I'm very sad about both.

Warnings: Language, sexual references, non-graphic mild sexual content, excessive fluff

Jilliy: Thank you for your review! And thank you! Oh, I'm definitely going to write more stories! Hmmm...well, I might just publish a book some day. And thank you again! You're so sweet! :)

BriannieBee64: Thank you for reviewing! Thank you! And yeah, I think you're right, stuff like that happens a lot at weddings, but hey, it just adds to the entertainment. Heehee, I love that Jett got beat up too ;)

Jatie 4 ever: Thank you for taking the time to review! Thank you so much! Wow, that means so much! I'm speechless! Thank you! It wasn't cheesy, it was sweet, so once again, thank you. Oh, and all cool people are mad or crazy ;)

gtrht: Thank you for reviewing! Well, I might write a sequel...:)

Btr fanatic: Thank you for your review! Haha, yes! Jatie FTW! :)

Once again, a huge thank you to xxxBookwormLonerxxx for her OC, Gabi! And if there's anyone who's review I didn't reply to, I'm so sorry, I read it, I just missed it amongst a bunch of e-mails when I was replying to reviews.

THANK YOU to everyone who has favorited, alerted, and reviewed this story! I LOVE YOU ALL! :)

So, the epilogue is a little different from the rest of the story, in that it's pretty fluffy, and the situations aren't quite as crazy, but hopefully you guys will still like it :)

Enjoy the epilogue!

Epilogue – 8 Months Later

Katie's POV

"So what're yours and James's plans for tonight? It's your very first Valentine's Day as a couple – you guys must have something really good planned, right?" Scarlett asked me as she filed her nails.

I looked up at her from painting my toenails a bright purple, and shrugged. "I think we're just going to go see a movie or something."

"Which movie?" Gabi asked as she held up earrings to her ears, staring at herself in my bedroom mirror.

"That new action movie, The Dalton Files," I answered.

Kyle glanced up from where he was paging through the latest copy of Rolling Stone. "I'm going to see that movie with Ben," he spoke up. "It looks pretty awesome – lots of action."

Scarlett rolled her eyes as she admired her perfectly rounded nails. "What is it with you two and going to go see action movies on romantic dates?"

"I think the male lead falls in love at some point in the movie," I replied off-handedly.

"There you go, Scarlett, there's your romance for you," Kyle told her.

Scarlett rolled her eyes again. "You know, even when you were pretending to be straight, you were still a lot more romantic than you are now."

"I'm plenty romantic!" Kyle insisted, sounding insulted. "Besides, Ben and I just started going out. We're not going to be going to see any of your sweet and sugary romantic comedies anytime soon, Scar."

"You took me to see Kiss and Tell 3 on our first date!" Scarlett cried.

Gabi and I exchanged exasperated glances. Scarlett had eventually forgiven Kyle for dating her, dumping her, and coming out of the closet, but she still had a tendency to use his previous exploits against him if they were arguing.

Kyle shrugged. "My intentions were different – don't hit me!"

Scarlett scowled. "You know, I keep trying to figure out what I ever saw in you."

Kyle flipped his shaggy bangs out of his eyes. "My stunningly good looks and darling charm?"

"Noooo…that wasn't it."

Gabi and I cackled together.

"Oooh, burn!" I hooted.

"I'm so glad Mom got a job out here – life back in Minnesota would be so much more boring!" Gabi said, still grinning.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK…

"Come in!" I called, and my bedroom door opened. James walked in, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Hey babe, I just thought I'd let you know that Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and I are heading down to the hockey rink for a couple of hours."

I gingerly stood up, trying not to disturb my newly pedicure-d toes, and walked over to him, peering into his face.

"What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm trying to burn the sight of your non-mangled face in my mind."

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny." James rolled his eyes but bent down to kiss me anyway.

"Just make sure you're on Kendall's team," I told him once he had pulled back. "Otherwise you really will come back here with a messed-up face."

"You have such faith in me."

"No, really, I do! I just also have faith in Kendall's ability to wrack the hockey puck at the speed of eighty miles per hour."

"Hey James," Scarlett called over to him. "What is it with you and Katie and Kyle and Ben going to go see an action movie on a date? Really romantic."

James shrugged. "Katie and I both want to see the movie. What's yours and Ben's excuse, Kyle?"

"I don't want to take him to see a hot romance movie yet, we're still too new a couple," Kyle explained.

James turned back to Scarlett. "Well, there you go."

"Are you guys leaving right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, as soon as Logan and Carlos finish fighting over whose hockey gear is whose." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"Ummm…Gabi, Kyle, let's go see what kind of ice cream they have, doesn't that sound fantastic? Katie, James, we'll be out in the kitchen. Gabi, Kyle, MOVE IT!" Scarlett ordered like a drill sergeant.

My three oh-so subtle friends scrambled off of my bed and out of my room, Gabi closing the door behind her.

I laughed as I turned back to James, and he grinned. "I think they need to work on their graceful exits."

"I'll be sure to pass along the message," I replied as he grip tightened on my waist. He gently pushed me backwards until we hit my bed and went tumbling down. He held himself over me, gently pressing kisses against my neck as my fingers tangled in his hair. I heard myself moan at the feeling of his lips against my skin. His fingers were trailing up my stomach, slowly, slowly…

"JAMES! TIME TO GO!" Kendall shouted through the door, banging on it so loud I was shocked that the door hadn't fallen down.

"Shit," James muttered, and crawled off of me. "He always did have fantastic timing."

I couldn't help but laugh as I sat up. "Well, you'll just have to make sure you take all of that sexual frustration out on the hockey puck."

"I'd rather take it out on you," he whispered, his lips just barely brushing against the shell of my ear, and I shivered.

"JAMES! DO NOT MAKE ME WALK IN ON YOU AND KATIE!" Kendall hollered.

James groaned. "GIMME A SECOND!" he shouted back, before kissing me again. "I'll see you in a couple of hours. I love you."

"Mmm…love you too," I said. "And remember – the movie starts at 7:15."

"We should be back here ages before then," James assured me. "Hey, want to go out to dinner beforehand? We could try out that new Italian restaurant."

"Sounds good," I agreed and pecked him on the lips again. I leaned back on my elbows and lazily watched as James stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and smiling at me before stepping out into the living room. Gabi, Scarlett, and Kyle darted back in, the girls each holding a tub of ice cream, Kyle hanging onto a bag of Salt and Vinegar potato chips.

"So…" Scarlett began the second the front door slammed behind the guys, "did things get heated between you and James?" she waggled her eyebrows for effect.

"You do know you look really deranged when you do that, don't you?" I informed her as I grabbed a handful of chips out of the bag.

"Just answer the freaking question."

"A tiny bit…But Kendall ruined it. He's not even living here and he's still walking in on James and me!"

"And this time the positions are definitely questionable," Gabi crowed.

"Whatever, I'm eighteen, it's not illegal if I want to have sex with him."

"But are you having sex with him?"

That was Kyle's cue to clap his hands over his ears and begin going, "La-la-la, I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LA-LA-LA-LA-LA…!" at the top of his lungs.

And he's the mature one.

I took Kyle's hands away from his ears. "No, I'm not."

Kyle relaxed. "Oh thank goodness. There was no way I was going to sit through a recounting of yours and James's sexual exploits."

I ignored him while Scarlett rolled her eyes. "We would have kicked you out if she had said yes."

"Whatever," Gabi said. "I didn't need a blow-by-blow account anyway."

"Good. Cuz I wouldn't give you one anyway."

"Can we please get off the topic of Katie having sex with James?" Kyle requested. "It's gross."

Gabi stuck her tongue out at him, laughing. "You're such a baby."

"I prefer to consider myself naively innocent."

Scarlett turned back to me. "So are you and James ever going to get it on?"

If they had wanted to, they could have cracked an egg on my face and it would have been fried within seconds. "Uhhh…"

"Haven't talked about it?" Scarlett said, nodding her head knowingly. "Neither of you has brought it up?"

"Uhhh…"

"It's probably for the best that they haven't talked about it yet, much less actually done it," Kyle informed Scarlett. "I mean, considering James's past with girls – "

"He's been checked for STDs!" I cried. "I know that much!"

"That's not what I meant," Kyle told me. "I just meant…I mean…Wouldn't you like to keep your relationship innocent for as long as possible?"

"Have you seen James's abs? It is possible to want to keep a relationship innocent with a guy with a body like that?" Scarlett demanded. "Anyway, would you want to keep your relationship with Ben as innocent for as long as possible?"

"That's different!" Kyle insisted.

Gabi cocked an eyebrow at him. "How?"

"Ben isn't James!"

"Yeah, but you were once a mini-replica of James."

Kyle scowled at Gabi. "Mini-replica?"

"You know what I mean! You weren't much better than James!"

"I didn't go around sleeping with a different girl every week!"

Were they seriously arguing over whether James and I should have sex?

"Kyle! Gabi! Scarlett! It's James's and my business if we decide to sleep together! Please, please, please drop the subject!"

"My point, for all of you girls, is that I just don't want Katie to get hurt," Kyle said, completely ignoring me.

"And my point is that people can change," Gabi retorted. "And James has."

Scarlett nodded earnestly. "He's in love with her."

"I'm not denying any of it. I'm just saying…they should take things slow."

"Dude, it's been eight months. And they're both adults. I wouldn't worry so much, if I were you," Gabi replied.

"Okay, I won't talk. Just ignore me and keep on talking about my personal business as if I'm not here," I said loudly as I reached for an old edition of Pop Tiger, the one where an interview asked James and me about our new relationship and how we felt about Kendall and Jo's marriage.

"Thanks for the permission, we will," Gabi cracked, and I flipped her off before burying my nose in the magazine.

James's POV

"SCORE!" Kendall roared as he shot the puck into the net that Carlos was supposed to be guarding. "WE WIN, YOU LOSE!" he shouted at Carlos and Logan.

"YES!" I hollered, punching the air in triumph and skating towards my teammate as I lifted the goalie mask off of my face and tossed it in the general direction of our unused hockey gear. I disliked playing goalie, because if something went wrong with the mask, The Face would be damaged. But someone had to do it, and Kendall had an admittedly stronger swing than I did. I just double-checked the goalie mask to make sure that everything was working perfectly.

I grinned as Logan and Carlos glared at me, and I high-fived Kendall. We had just beat Logan and Carlos at our fifth game that day, and they were not happy, but before they could take out their anger on us with their hockey sticks, Kendall was pointing at the clock. "I've gotta go, Jo and I have dinner reservations at six at that fancy French restaurant that she likes."

"Katie and I are going to a movie and we're going to grab dinner beforehand, so I need to leave too."

"I'm watching movies at Stephanie's apartment tonight," Carlos reported.

"And tonight's the night," Logan added. "I'm going to ask Camille to marry me tonight."

"Well, it's about fucking time!" Kendall cried.

"You and Camille are great together," I put in.

"She'll definitely say yes," Carlos finished.

Logan beamed, albeit a bit nervously. "I hope so."

In the eight months since Kendall and Jo's wedding, Kendall and Jo had moved into a house a few blocks away from the Palmwoods. Mrs. Knight was living with the producer who she had met at the wedding reception – they had begun dating almost immediately, and then a month ago, she moved into his Beverly Hills mansion. Logan and Camille were still dating, and just last week, Logan had gone out and bought a diamond engagement ring. Carlos had begun a relationship with Stephanie, and they were very close. And Katie and me…well…as gushy and gooey as this is going to sound, we were very much in love. I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone, except maybe my mother and my best friends.

We headed for the locker rooms, stripped down, and slid into the showers. I closed my eyes as I felt the water wash away the sweat and fake ice from my body, relaxing my tense muscles.

So…everyone was going to be out of the apartment that night – I had no doubt that Logan and Carlos would end up spending the night at their respective girlfriends' apartments. Hmmm…maybe…maybe…

Okay, I wasn't going to lie. I was wondering how Katie would feel if we…oh, I don't know…ended up in my bed…The thought was more than appealing to me, but she was still a virgin, and I wasn't sure if she was ready to take the next step in our relationship. Eight months may sound like a long time, but it might not be long enough for her, for this. But how do I go about asking her? That wasn't just something I could ask her over dinner: "So Katie, how's your pasta? By the way, do you want to sleep with me tonight?" She'd probably end up throwing her food in my face.

Or…maybe I could just sit back and see what happens. That would probably be my best – and safest – bet.

"Hey James! If you don't get out of the shower, your pores are going to start leaking water!" Kendall yelled at me.

I winced. Oops. I'd half-forgotten that Kendall was in the room with me, and there I'd been, wondering if his little sister would consider sleeping with me.

Not that I would push Katie into anything she didn't want to do, and I wouldn't break up with her if she said no. But I am a guy. I can't always control my thoughts, or my body for that matter, no matter how finely tuned it is.

I groaned softly and stepped out from under the hard stream and reached for a towel. "So how's Jo and the baby doing?" I asked. The baby was due to be born within the next three weeks, and we were all getting antsy.

Kendall rubbed his hair dry with a towel. "Jo's doing good – a little sore pretty much everywhere – but good. And the doctor said the baby's strong and healthy, so…"

"That's good," Carlos said as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "I mean, not about Jo, but about the baby."

"It's perfectly normal for a pregnant woman to be sore," Logan informed us in his favorite technical voice. "Is she irritable, Kendall?"

"Very," Kendall commented dryly.

"Hey, I heard that Jett's finally been admitted to a treatment center for, you know, being a sex addict and all of that," Carlos piped up as he pulled his helmet down over his head.

"About freaking time," I said as I pulled my jeans on. "It's been months since everyone found out about him and his issues."

Jett Stetson had been able to keep his spot on New Town High, and very little had been heard about him since the wedding reception. He had moved out of the Palmwoods, and rumor had it that he was living with Courtney Hill, who was currently a Victoria's Secret model. Not much was heard about her either, and we all figured that the evil duo were probably just laying low for the time being, no doubt planning their revenge. But if Jett had been admitted into a treatment facility, than that revenge wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Besides, we had powerful people *cough Kyle's mom cough* on our side who could shut down Jett's and Courtney's career if they laid a finger on us. Ahhhh, the beauty of living in Hollywood.

I finished dressing, and turned my attention to my hair, running my lucky comb meticulously through my locks, making sure that every hair was in place. There. I looked damn good, and hopefully Katie would agree.

"Yes James, you're very pretty. Should we get you a nice pink ribbon to tie in your hair?" Kendall asked as he pulled me away from the locker room mirror.

"Ha ha, very funny," I deadpanned as I pulled my hoodie on over my t-shirt. "Come on, let's go."

The mid February California air was in the fifties, with a slight breeze, but the sun was shining brightly, casting shadows onto the sidewalk as we walked along. It felt like the perfect weather for Valentine's Day, as if the sun and the sky were in love, if that makes any sense at all.

Logan pulled out the keys to the BTR mobile and we piled in, with Carlos and me in the backseat and Kendall riding shotgun. Logan started the car up, switched on the radio, and All Night Dynamite's song All I'm Thinking Of blasted out of the speakers.

"Ooh, I love this song!" Carlos cried, dancing in his seat in time to the beat.

"It is pretty catchy," I agreed, grinning. "I don't know though…I'm still partial to Crash and Burn."

Kendall turned around in his seat to glare at me. "Of course you do. You kissed Katie to that song."

I shrugged innocently. "It's a good song."

My phone vibrated and I pulled it out of my jeans pocket. I had a text message from Katie. As always, my heart seemed to pound harder and faster, as I opened the text: Kyle, Scar, and Gabi have all gone crazy & they're driving me nuts! Are you guys done hitting each other in the head with hockey sticks? ;P

I laughed quietly to myself as I texted back: Yeah, we're in the car now. How have they gone crazy?

I hit send and waited a couple of minutes before my phone lit up with her text: Please tell me your bodies are all in 1 piece! & I'll tell you later, it's kind of…I don't think Kendall would like it if he saw it on our phones. :)

Okay, now I was really, really curious, but a little scared too. Kendall would be upset if he saw the subject of whatever it was Kyle, Scarlett, and Gabi were doing on our phones? What was up with that? But something told me to just step back and wait. She'd tell me eventually, she always did.

OK, but now you have me really curious. & yes, we're still recognizable ;)

Hmmm...I don't know if I believe that. I know how rough and tumble your hockey games can get. Damn, Gabi just threw a pillow at me and told me to get off my phone. I'll see you in a little while. Love you 3

I smiled and blushed after reading her message, and texted back: See you soon. Love you too 3

Yep, I'm totally whipped by Katie, and not ashamed to admit it.

"Katie?" Carlos asked, nodding at my phone.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Whenever you text each other, you get this ridiculous smile on your face and your face turns redder than salsa."

"Ummm…" Well, that was a little embarrassing…

Logan dropped Kendall off at his house – Jo had dropped Kendall off at our apartment on her way to

work so that he could get ready for the game with the rest of us –and I immediately leapt out of the car, sliding into the front passenger's seat.

Logan glanced at me before waving to Kendall and pulling out onto the main street. "I wanted to talk to you about something," he said as he maneuvered the car around a corner.

"What about?" I asked, leaning back in my seat and propping my converse-clad feet up on the dashboard.

"Katie."

"What about her?"

"It's Valentine's Day."

I shot him a smirk. "And this is why you're the genius, Logan. I never would have figured out the correlation between February 14th and Valentine's Day."

"Shut up. You didn't let me finish."

"My bad. Go right on ahead, Logie-Bunny," I said mockingly, using Camille's pet name for Logan. Logan immediately blushed and glared at me.

"As I was saying, James, its Valentine's Day – and I was wondering what you and Katie were planning to do?"

I shrugged, watching as the buildings flashed by us. "We're just going out to dinner and a movie."

"What about after the movie?"

"We'll probably head back to the apartment."

"And once you're there?"

Okay, this was starting to sound weird.

With my feet still on the dashboard, I twisted my upper body around to gape at Logan. "Why do you want to know?"

"Are you planning on having sex with Katie?"

I blinked slowly at him, a little unsure how to answer that. It wasn't planned, but I can't deny that I had been fantasizing about it. And I was a little shocked at how blunt Logan had just been – it was so unlike him – and it threw me off my game.

"Is that any of your business?"

Logan sighed. "Katie's like a little sister to Carlos and me, and she is Kendall's little sister. I understand you no longer see her that way, but the rest of us do. And if you are planning to go all the way with her tonight – "

"Wait – who says we haven't had sex yet?" I asked. Obviously we hadn't, but the others didn't know that. At least, I didn't think they did.

"Someone's always around," Logan said, shrugging his shoulders. "You two have never had the chance. But, you will tonight. No one will be in the apartment."

"Look man, I haven't even brought the idea up to Katie."

"Well, you better make sure she wants to do it before you jump in head first. Don't pressure her into something she isn't ready for."

"Do you really think I would do that to Katie?" I demanded angrily, crossing my arms over my chest and slamming my feet down to the floor of the car. "Damn it, Logan, I'm in love with her! I would never do anything like that to her!"

Logan nodded, his lips turning up slightly with the hint of a smile. "Good, because we would beat you to a bloody pulp with hockey sticks if you did."

"And you would have every right."

We pulled into the Palmwoods parking lot and slid out of the car, slamming the doors behind us.

Carlos grabbed my arm as we made our way towards the lobby. "Just…be gentle with her, okay? Because Katie isn't just a mindless slut who only likes you because you're famous. She's…she's Katie. She's our Katie-Kat."

His brown eyes were wide and genuine. Katie was closer to Carlos than to Logan, and Carlos treated her like his little sister/teddy bear. If I did anything to hurt Katie, Carlos would be almost as hurt. Logan might be the most diplomatic and sensitive out of all of us, but Carlos was the most emotional, and easily the most vulnerable.

I nodded, face serious. "I know Carlos. Believe me, I know. And I promise."

Carlos paused, and then his face erupted into a wide smile. "Okay, good. Well, come on! I have to be over at Stephanie's in an hour!"

And without further ado, he dragged me into the hotel.

A couple of minutes later we crashed into 2J to find the shower running, with Katie, Kyle, Gabi, and Scarlett sitting on the couch, watching an Angel marathon on TV. It was the episode where Wolfram and Hart sends Cordelia a whole bunch of violent visions, and this was, naturally, sparking lots of shouting from Katie and Gabi, both of whom learned at a young age how to scream bloody murder at the TV from Kendall, Carlos, Logan, and me. We damaged them for life.

Kyle was texting someone and smiling, looking slightly unfocused, which told me he was chatting with Ben. He and Ben had met at the support group for gay teens that Kyle had joined a couple of weeks after he had been out-ed by Jett Stetson. They had quickly hit it off, but had chosen to go slow, since neither of them had been out of the closet for very long. Plus, the paparazzi spent most of their time for the first three months after the wedding switching between stalking Kyle and stalking Katie and me. If Kyle hung out with us, then it was freaking paparazzi-stalk-fest.

Ben was a musician, the lead guitarist in an up and coming rock band, but because of his struggle with his sexuality, he had fought depression and had resorted to cutting. Eventually, though, he seeked out help and came out of the closet, and joined the support group.

Scarlett also had her phone out, her fingers flying over the keypad. She had gotten a semi-permanent part on New Town High, and was dating one of her costars, Cody Watson. I had met him a few times when Scarlett, Cody, Katie, and I double-dated. Cody seemed to be a pretty good guy, although fairly low key, which meant that he balanced Scarlett 'The Drama Queen' Stetson out nicely.

And then there was Gabi…Curtis Margolis, Kyle's older brother, had been visiting Kyle and his parents a lot more since Gabi had arrived at the Palmwoods. After ages of flirtatious exchanges, they had finally started dating, much to the relief of everyone involved, since Gabi's and Curtis's idea of flirting usually meant teasing each other mercilessly, while they threw random objects at each other. We had all gotten pretty good at dodging flying pillows and DVD cases by this point.

Katie looked up when the apartment door closed, and her face immediately broke out into a huge smile, her eyes shining happily. "YOU REALLY ARE ALIVE!" she shrieked, and she leapt to her feet, and threw herself at me. I caught her and she clung to me, legs around my waist, kissing me passionately. Oh God. As always, kissing Katie and thinking at the same time was impossible.

"This is so gross!" Carlos shrieked.

"I feel like a total perverted voyeur," Scarlett grumbled.

"You know, watching my best friend make out with her boyfriend like there's no tomorrow wasn't on my to-do list," Kyle commented.

"YO! KATIE! JAMES! GET A ROOM!" Gabi hollered at us.

Katie pulled back and grinned slyly at Gabi. "That's actually not a bad idea, Gabs."

I had to agree with Katie. That was definitely one of Gabi's better ideas.

Scarlett fanned her face with her hand. "All this sexual tension between you two…Whoo! I've gotta go and cool down."

Katie blushed slightly, but she didn't move her legs from my waist. "You do that Scarlett. Have lots of fun."

"I will," and Scarlett left the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Gabi got to her feet, closely followed by Kyle. "Yeah, this is starting to get a little too personal. I'm going to head out. Have fun tonight, okay K?"

Katie finally unwrapped her legs from my waist and I set her on the ground so that she could hug Gabi.

"I will," Katie assured Gabi. "You have fun too G."

Gabi smiled. "I will. I'm hanging out with Curtis tonight."

"Yeah, he came down here, not to see Mom, Dad, and me, but to see Gabi," Kyle grumbled. "It's sickening. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go get ready for my date with Ben. Later all."

He and Gabi walked out of the apartment, leaving me with Katie and Carlos.

"Well, time to go and get ready for movie night with Stephanie," Carlos said happily, bounding into his and my bedroom.

Katie glanced at the time on her phone. "It's 4:20. We should start getting ready too."

"Yeah, we should," I agreed, but took her hand before she could move off towards her bedroom. "Hey, were you serious when you said that we should get a room? I mean, I know you were giving Gabi a hard time, but…"

Katie frowned. "I was serious that we should take the make out session into my bedroom. Why…? Ohhhh…Yeah, maybe I meant that too. You're just going to have to wait until tonight to find out." And she winked saucily at me before sauntering into her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

Gah…Okay James, breathe…breathe…in…and out…there you go…

I managed to stumble into the bedroom I shared with Carlos. Carlos had changed into a slightly nicer pair of jeans and a sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his forearms. "So, how do I look?" he asked, biting his lip nervously. It's actually kind of cute how in love with Stephanie he is, but it turns him into a nervous wreck. I mean, he already was, but now he's even worse.

"You look fine, Carlos," I assured him.

"Oh good. In that case, I'm gonna go. See you tomorrow, James."

"See you tomorrow, Carlitos. Have fun tonight."

"You too…gentle fun, I mean…Yeah…See you tomorrow…" and he left the room, taking all of the awkwardness with him.

I lay down on my bed, and closed my eyes, thinking about what Katie had said. Was tonight…the night? Oh God, I hope so. I was really wishing that tonight would be the first night that after one our dates, I wouldn't have to go lock myself in the bathroom or in my bedroom, if Carlos was out with Stephanie, and jack off to the thought of Katie. And I knew that if we really did finally sleep together tonight, it would be amazing, better than anything else, for the very simple reason that it was Katie and I loved her and she could get me to do things that I would never do if anyone else was asking, and she could induce bodily and hormonal reactions from me that I thought I had somewhat under control…which obviously I didn't.

Hmmm…I wonder how much Kendall would kill me if I have sex with his little sister…Well, if I did have sex with Katie, hopefully Kendall wouldn't walk in on us in the middle of the act…Although with our luck…

Note to self: Make sure to lock the bedroom door.

But then the thoughts began to rush forward. What if I suffered condom collapse? I had heard about that happening to other guys, and quite honestly, it sounded pretty humiliating. What if I wasn't gentle enough? What if…? Oh, great. Now I was panicking. I couldn't panic. Not now. I had to remain calm and cool and collected. The three Cs. I had to. Besides, Katie might not even be ready, she might want to wait.

And with that half disappointing, half reassuring thought, I got to my feet and began to pull out my clothes for that evening.

Katie's POV

Oh, wow. Had I really just said that to James? Really? Really? But I had kind of meant it. Well, okay, there was no kind of about it. I had definitely meant it.

Okay, so sex with James Diamond. It was something that I had sort of thought about ever since I was fourteen or so, but now the wish was becoming an actual possibility. But was I ready to go through with it? I could hear James rummaging around in his bedroom, and I smiled to myself. Hell yeah, I was ready.

As I changed clothes, I flashed back to when I had finally told James about the promise I had made to Mom.

…"So let me get this straight," James had said, laughing slightly when I had finished explaining it to him. We were sitting on my bed, because Carlos and Stephanie were in James's and Carlos' room, and the rest of the guys were in the living room, watching the Sports Channel. "Your mom gave you permission to have sex with me as long as you were eighteen and you were ready? Wow…She's even cooler than I originally thought."

I had choked out an embarrassed laugh. "Yep, that's pretty much what she said. Crazy, huh?"

James had shrugged and reached out to twirl a strand of my hair between his fingers. "Seems like pretty good ground rules to me. You're still a minor, and chances are, you're probably not ready to have sex with me anyway. We'll take it slow, I promise," he had added sweetly before leaning in to kiss me gently.

That had been seven months ago. But now…now I was legal and I was ready.

At 5:30, James knocked on my door. "Batie-Bear? Are you ready?"

"Just a sec," I called back, and turned every which way, trying to see myself from every angle in the mirror. I was in a short black cotton flared skirt that Scarlett had forced me to buy, because it "showed off my long, slender legs", a purple off-the-shoulder long-sleeved shirt with a cinched waist, and even silver gladiator sandals.

My hair was straight, and hung down my back and over my shoulders, I wore small silver hoops in my ears, a simple silver chain around my neck, and my makeup was subtle.

I grabbed my purse and James's Valentine's Day present, opened my bedroom door, and came face to face with James. He looked amazing in jeans and a black and white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

His eyes traveled from my face, down my neck, to my chest, to my stomach, down to my legs, and then back up to my face, before he smiled widely and pulled me in to kiss me. "You look beautiful, Katie Knight," he whispered in my ear, and I shivered.

"Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself," I whispered back, running my fingers over the light stubble on his cheeks and jaw. So sexy.

For about five seconds, I seriously considered just saying fuck dinner and the movie, but James stepped back and clasped my hand in his. "Come on, let's get going, I'm starving."

We headed down to the car and slid in. James turned the key and the engine rolled over smoothly. James backed out of the parking space and then pulled out onto the main road, before turning on the radio.

"So are we going to that Italian restaurant?" I asked over a Forever the Sickest Kids song.

"That's the plan. Unless you would rather go somewhere else," he added quickly, his fingers tapping nervously against the gear selector.

"No, Italian sounds perfect," I assured him, wondering what the hell he had to be nervous about. Could it have been my innuendo earlier? He wasn't opposed to the thought of having sex with me, was he? I mean, he was a guy, so chances of that were somewhere between two and negative five-hundred-thousand percent. So if he wasn't grossed out by the idea, then…Was he nervous? Was the great James Diamond, the guy who had banged about eighty different girls, nervous about having sex with his best friend's little sister? Who'd have thunk it?

"So what's everyone else doing tonight?" I asked, as it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea if we would have the apartment to ourselves. "Carlos said something about a movie night with Stephanie?"

"Yep. And tonight Logan's going to propose to Camille, so he'll probably be over at her place until next month – she won't let him out."

I laughed. "Somehow, I don't think he'd mind that too much."

The Forever the Sickest Kids song switched to My Girl Friday's song "I Like", and James grinned. "I love this song," he told me. "It makes me think of you."

"You mean the drinking wine and whiskey on Saturday nights' part?" I asked sarcastically. "Or the telling you that the cigarettes will kill you part?"

"No, I mean like how you bring out the better man in me," he said, quoting a line later on in the song, before beginning to sing along to it: "Cuz I like the way you look in the morning/I like the nights where you're wrapped around me/I like the way you whisper 'what you want to do'/Yeah I like the way you love me too/Whoa oh/Whoa oh/Yeah I like the way you love me too/Whoa oh/Whoa oh."

I smiled, even while my face was turning bright red. He had a voice that matched his looks, and every time I heard him sing, I felt like I could listen to him forever and never get tired of listening.

We reached the restaurant and headed in. The hostess showed us to a small, private table, and James even pulled my chair out for me. I smiled and thanked him, and got his charming smile in return. Dinner was pretty much uneventful. He filled me in on the hockey game, and I told him about some of the funnier things that Kyle, Gabi, and Scarlett had said (the stuff that wasn't about James and me sleeping together, I mean). Over chocolate mousse we exchanged Valentine's Day presents – he had gotten me a diamond necklace, bracelet, and earring set, and I had bought him a limited edition of a Cuda watch (he had been dying to get it ever since he had heard that Cuda was expanding into man jewelry).

Once we were finished with our food, we headed over to the movie theater – the same movie theater James and Jett had gotten into a fight at eight months ago. We had had to pay a hefty sum for the owner of the movie theater to let us back in, but in the end, they had relented, for which I am very glad – where else are you going to find a small popcorn that's the size of a triple large?

James bought a small popcorn for us to share, and a medium cherry coke – which was closer to an extra-extra-extra-extra-extra-extra-extra-extra-extra large – and stuck two straws in it. It was a sweet, if somewhat gushy, habit of ours ever since the night of the wedding, to share a popcorn and coke. Don't ask me why, it was just something we did.

The movie was pretty good, lots of action, awesome special effects, and fantastic acting. We even had the movie theater almost completely to ourselves, because all the other star-crossed couples were spending their Valentine's Day dates at one of the latest romantic comedies. The only people in there were a couple of scowling guys and a small group of girls who were chowing down on large (extra large times fifty) popcorns. We were the only couple in the theater, and within the first ten minutes, James had placed the popcorn on the seat next to him, and patted his lap, grinning.

I took the hint and climbed into his lap, cuddling into him. He rested his chin on my head, neither of us speaking or moving until the movie was over.

On the way home, we dissected the movie, going over what the movie needed to make it better and what made the movie as good as it was. James was a lot more relaxed then he had been on the way to the restaurant, for which I was kind of relieved, because as much as it amused me to see him nervous, it made me just as nervous as he was; it was like some kind of chain reaction.

When we reached 2J, the apartment was dark and empty. "I guess we have the place to ourselves," James said in satisfaction as he flipped on the living room lights.

I locked the front door and checked all of the rooms anyway, just to ensure that none of the guys had had a bad night and come home early. By the time I had finished combing the apartment, I was completely sure that James and I were the only ones there. Good.

We plopped down on the couch, and within seconds we were kissing, completely zoning out to everything else but each other. That is, until…

"Wait, what didn't you want to tell me over text message?" James asked, pulling away.

"Oh…that…that's not really a big deal…"

"What was it Katie?"

"Oh, Gabi and Kyle and Scarlett were just arguing over whether or not we should have sex or talk about having sex – I'm not completely sure which one it was, my head started spinning."

James paused, and then shrugged. "Okay. I can picture them trying to decide that for us, so..."

"So…?" I prodded him.

"So…I can see why you wouldn't want to put that in a text message, although I kind of doubt Kendall's going to steal our phones just to read our conversations."

"He probably won't, but he might have a moment of insanity, and – "

James cut me off by pressing his lips to mine, and I didn't try to continue on with what I had been saying; instead I just tangled my fingers in his hair as he slid even closer to me, so that we as close as we could be without me sitting in his lap.

He kissed down my throat, across my collarbone to my shoulders, and then retraced his steps back up to my lips while I slid my fingers into the waistband of his jeans. I could feel his toned muscles against my fingers, and a light dusting of hair covering his lower abs.

I pulled back. "Your bedroom?" I suggested, before I could second guess myself.

"Are you – are you sure?" he asked, gulping slightly.

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm positive."

His face broke out into a wide grin, and he scooped me up, bridal style, and carried me into his room, kicking his door behind him. He laid me on his bed, hovering over me, as he kissed my lips. I licked at the inside of his bottom lip, earning a soft moan from him, and I grinned against his mouth with satisfaction.

My fingers worked furiously at the buttons of his shirt, and he shrugged out of it, revealing his perfect chest and washboard abs. I rolled him over so that I was on top of him, raking my finger nails softly down his chest. I took my lips away from his and trailed my mouth down his throat, down his chest, and down his abs. He groaned in pleasure, and it was becoming very obvious that he was getting turned on.

He tugged at the hem of my shirt and I lifted my arms obediently so that he could pull it off. He licked his lips slowly as he took in the sight of me half naked, before pulling me down for another kiss.

Here we go…

James's POV

Katie's head rested on my chest as I stroked her hair, heart still hammering erratically from what had just happened between us. I couldn't believe it had finally happened, but I couldn't have been happier.

Katie's breath was slow and steady, and I knew she was asleep. I was exhausted, and I could feel myself slipping under, but I didn't want to sleep – there was no way my dreams could match the haven that reality had just become. And with that unusually deep thought for me, I nodded off, slipping into unconsciousness.

I awoke a little later to the sound of a phone ringing, but I couldn't think of whose phone it was. I was still too groggy.

Katie mumbled something as she slowly came back to full awareness. I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head as her eyes slowly opened. She looked so beautiful with her hair messed up and her eyes still sleepy and innocent – eyes that, just a few hours ago, had been staring up at me, pleading and hungry and filled with a heady combination of love and lust.

"Hey," she murmured, eyes focusing on my lips.

I kissed her gently and rested my forehead against hers. "Hey."

We sat like that for a few seconds and then she rested her head against my shoulder.

"How do you feel about…earlier?" I asked, kissing her head again.

"I'm glad it happened," she said, still sounding like she was half-asleep. "I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"Me neither."

I placed my index and middle fingers under her chin and tipped her face up so that I could kiss her again.

And that's when the phone went off again, except that the ring tone was different – it was mine.

I pulled back, frowning. "I think that's my phone."

"Who the hell is calling you at – " Katie leaned over to look at the digital clock on my nightstand " – 1:47 in the morning?"

"Beats me," I answered as I pushed the covers back and slid out of bed. I saw her smirk slightly as she took in my form, and I smirked back at her as I followed the sound of the ringing to my discarded jeans. I pulled my phone out and checked the caller ID. "It's Kendall," I reported, fumbling for a second before hitting the receive button and putting the phone up to my ear. I sat down on the edge of the bed, wearily, and Katie slithered over on her stomach and elbows, still wrapped in the sheets. She placed a kiss on the back of my shoulder.

"Tell him we're busy," she said suggestively. Something told me she wasn't half-asleep anymore. I liked her idea, although explaining just how exactly I was busy with Katie was going to be a bit of a problem.

"Kendall? You do know what time it – "

"JO'S IN LABOR!" Kendall shouted into his phone.

"I – WHAT?"

Katie had been trailing kisses across my shoulder blades and down my spine, but she quickly pulled back when I yelled and came to sit beside me.

"MY WIFE IS IN LABOR WITH OUR CHILD!"

"Okay, as soon as Katie and I are dressed, we'll be down at the hospital."

There was a pause, and then Kendall asked, in a would-be calm voice, "When you and Katie are dressed?"

"Ummm…"

Oops.

Katie face-palmed.

"Slip of the tongue?" I suggested, knowing exactly what it sounded like. It sounded like we were undressed. Together. And that would have been the right idea.

"JAMES – !"

Katie grabbed the phone from me. "Kendall, James and I will be down to the hospital soon. See you then. Love you. Bye!" and she hit the call end button.

There was a pause, and then she started laughing. "Oh, poor Kendall. I shouldn't be laughing, it's kind of sick, but it's kind of funny too. Kendall's worst nightmare came true."

"Maybe this is what they call poetic justice?" I asked as I dropped my phone to the floor and leaned back on my elbows.

"It fits. And considering that he's always walked in on us at the most awkward of moments…"

"Well, I guess we better get dressed and get down to the hospital so that Kendall can kill us," Katie said, slipped out from the sheets. "I'm going to go grab some clothes from my room," she told me, shivering slightly in the slightly chilly air. I handed her the shirt I had been wearing earlier that evening and she slipped it on, wrapping it around her body before kissing me quickly and crawling off the bed. I couldn't help but admire how beautiful and sexy and sensual she looked, wearing my shirt. It hung off of her small frame, but somehow the sight of her in my button-up shirt was just completely intoxicating.

Even in the darkness, I could see her wince slightly as she began walking. "Overworked muscles?" I called to her, and she turned to scowl at me, although she was fighting back a smile.

"Shut up."

I laughed. "I love you Katie Knight."

"I love you too, James Diamond."

I watched as she walked out of my room, still limping a bit due to overworking muscles that had never been worked before, and had gotten overworked by me, before getting dressed myself.

I double-checked to make sure my wallet was still in my jeans pocket before grabbing my phone, running my lucky comb through my hair a couple of times, popping about five Tic-Tacs, and heading out into the living room. I only had to wait about ten seconds before Katie walked out of her room, pulling a hoodie on over her t-shirt.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said as she flipped her hair over the hood of her sweatshirt. I smiled, doing my best not to flash back to just a few hours ago…that definitely wasn't going to get us to the hospital faster.

"Okay, come on." I grabbed the car keys, and took her hand, and together we walked out of the apartment. I paused just long enough to lock the door behind us, and then we made a mad dash for the stairs, since often times they were quicker than the elevators.

We crashed out of the Palmwoods lobby and into the parking lot. I unlocked the car doors and we leapt into the car; I jammed the specific key into the ignition and started the car up, before slamming the gears into reverse and backing out of the parking spot.

I pulled out onto the main road, and stepped on the accelerator, speeding the car up to thirty-five miles per hour.

"I can't believe Kendall's finally going to be a dad!" Katie squealed. "I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt! Oh God! I'm so hyper, I feel like I'm on a sugar rush."

"I can pull the car over and help you take care of the hyper-ness," I suggested, teasing her lightly.

"You know James, if Jo wasn't in labor, I might actually take you up on your offer."

I licked my lips as I watched her. She was smirking at me, and it was all I could do to really not pull the car over onto the shoulder and conduct a reenactment of the events of three hours ago. "I'm holding you to that," I told her. "Once the baby is born, it's going to be just you, me, and my bed."

"Ooh, I love when you talk dirty," she teased me, being her usual smart-ass-self, but she was biting her bottom lip, and I knew she was seriously tempted by my idea.

There was a pause, and then she cried, "I wonder if Camille said yes to Logan!"

I slammed on the brakes as a red stoplight came into sight. "I haven't even thought of that! Oh man, I hope so!"

"Well, he never came back to the apartment, so she probably did," Katie reasoned.

"Unless she said no, and he took off to go and get drunk or something," I replied as the light turned green. I pressed down on the gas pedal, and we shot through the intersection.

The hospital was just up ahead, and following the signs, I quickly navigated into the parking lot, and pulled into a space. I shut the engine off, but before Katie could get out of the car, I pulled her towards me and kissed her for the trillionth time that night.

When we broke apart, I gently traced her bruised lips with my index finger, and knew my lips couldn't look much better.

We sat like that for a few more seconds, and then I pulled away. "Ready to go in?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

We got out of the car, locked the doors, and hand in hand, we headed into the hospital.

We stopped in the lobby, at the counter. The receptionist looked up at us as we approached her.

"What can I do for you?" she asked politely.

"Could you tell us which room Josephine Taylor is in?" Katie asked, matching the receptionist's tone. "She's in labor," she added.

"Hmmm…" the receptionist turned her attention to her computer, typing something in, and then looked back at us. "Josephine Taylor is in the maternity ward, in room 205, on the third floor."

"Thanks. Come on James!" Katie grabbed my hand again and we dashed off, towards the elevators.

We found room 205 pretty easily, and crashed into the room, causing a bit of a commotion; everyone looked up when we entered.

Jo was lying in the hospital bed, groaning, with sweat pouring down her face. Kendall sat beside her, holding her hand and murmuring to her. Jo's father sat on her other side, holding her other hand, just staring on. Mrs. Knight sat next to Kendall with a hand on his shoulder. Logan and Camille, and Carlos and Stephanie, sat in various chairs scattered throughout the room, all looking tense, yet excited.

"Have we missed anything?" Katie asked breathlessly.

"Just Jo cussing Kendall out during one of the contractions," Stephanie answered brightly.

Kendall stared at us, not looking particularly happy to see us. That might have something to do with what had happened earlier…

"Whoa," Camille commented, "you two smell like…roses. You smell like roses," she quickly corrected herself.

Uh oh. I had no doubt in my mind that Katie and I both smelled like sweat and sex. That wasn't going to help our case with Kendall.

"Relax Camille, I already know what happened earlier. James is terrible at being subtle," Kendall said. "And I'll kill him and Katie later, but not while my wife is in labor."

"It'd be good to wait," Logan agreed. "The double murder of your sister and your best friend might cast a shadow over the birth of your kid."

Camille sighed dreamily. "Isn't he just soooo sexy?"

"Uhhh…" Carlos, Katie, Stephanie, and I all intoned.

"You're totally sexy, babe," Camille told Logan, kissing him on the lips.

"Well, you're even sexier," Logan replied, kissing her back.

"Nah uh, no one's sexier than you!"

"No one's sexier than you!"

"No conversation is grosser than this one," Carlos spoke up.

"Ohmigosh, James, Katie, guess what!" Camille gushed out.

"What?" Katie and I asked together, smiling.

"THIS!" and Camille held out her left hand, showcasing a beautiful diamond ring. "Logan proposed to me!"

She must have already told the others, because everyone just smiled and returned to their private conversations that they had been having before Katie and I burst into the room.

"Ohhhh, it's so beautiful!" Katie cried, admiring the ring.

"Stunning," I agreed with a smile.

Camille leaned back, resting her head on Logan's chest.

Kendall's eyes were following Katie and me, watching our every move, and quite honestly, it was driving me nuts.

"Kendall, if you want to kill us, just do it!" I burst out. "This is driving me crazy!"

Kendall got to his feet, and walked over to us, grabbing us by our arms in a vice-like grasp. He yanked us out into the hallway.

"I'm not going to yell. I'm not going to scream. I'm not even going to get mad," he said in a low hiss. "I just want to know that it was a mutual agreement, and that it never actually happened."

Katie stared at him. "That makes no sense."

"He wants us to tell him whether or not you were ready for it, and then for us to let him know that we never had sex," I translated.

"Oh, okay. Yes Kendall, the feelings were mutual, and I was very ready. And nope, it never happened."

Kendall nodded, his face relaxing. "Okay, good. That's nice to know. And yes, I'm perfectly aware that was a blatant lie, but I'm going to pretend what you let slip over the phone and the smell of sex is something else entirely, and that it's all in my head. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and hold my wife's hand while she delivers our child."

And with those words, he pushed back into the hospital room.

Katie and I stared at each other. "That was…bizarre," she finally said, and I laughed.

"Tell me about it," I agreed. "But at least he's not going to kill us." I paused, and then said, "I'm starving. Do you want something to eat?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm famished. Let's go down and grab some food."

Katie's POV

James opened the hospital room door to call into the others and let them know that we were going down to the hospital cafeteria, and then we headed off, to the ground floor.

Five minutes later we were settled down at one of the small, square metal tables with cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes. I took a sip of my chocolate milkshake, while I watched James look around the room, chuckling to himself slightly.

"Do you remember the last time we were here?" he asked, turning back to flash me a grin.

"When…The last time Carlos broke his arm, a year ago," I said.

"Yeah, when he was skateboarding and decided to try to do a jump off of the Palmwoods roof."

I rolled my eyes. "It's amazing that he didn't get hurt worse than that. That was one of the stupidest things he's ever done, right up there with trying to navigate his bike through the carnival funhouse mirrors."

James cracked up at the memory. "Oh man, we were all trying to get through the mirrors as fast as we could so that he wouldn't run us over."

"That stunt was dangerous for everyone involved."

"Who'd have thought that a year later we would be back at the hospital for Kendall and Jo's kid's birth?" he said, sounding like his thoughts were faraway.

I finished up my cheeseburger and crumpled the foil wrapping into a ball. "It is pretty insane," I agreed. "But, I mean, let's face it – a year ago, who would have thought that we'd be dating, that tonight would have happened? I mean, if someone had told me a year ago what was going on tonight, I'd probably ask them if they'd been brainwashed recently."

James laughed. "Yeah, that probably would have been my reaction too." He paused, and then reached out to take my hand. "Do you regret any of it?"

For me, there had never been an easier question. "No," I said simply. "Not a single minute. I love the craziness, the utter insanity. There's never a dull moment with you, and I love you for it. I mean, there's so many reasons why I love you, but…I wouldn't take back anything."

"Good," he said, and leaned forward to press his lips to mine. "Neither would I."

"You are such a hopeless romantic!" I cried, laughing.

"Something else you love me for?" he asked with a cocky grin.

"As mushy as this is going to sound, yes."

"Going to eat those fries?" Of course, the moments never last for very long. But that's a guy for you – they love food more than almost anything else.

"Go ahead," I said, still laughing as I pushed the fries towards him. He promptly dumped about half a container of salt over them before popping them in his mouth.

I watched as he wolfed down the fries, and when he was done, I touched his leg with the toe of my sneaker. "Wanna head back up to the hospital room, see how Jo's doing?"

"Sure."

We threw our garbage away, and left for the room, where everyone was still sprawled out in the hospital chairs.

The rest of the night was restless. No one got any sleep in the hospital chairs, and even if the chairs had magically turned into feather beds, we still wouldn't have had the time to drift off – Jo's contractions were coming closer and closer together, and she screamed with all her might when they hit her, causing Kendall to shriek like a little boy when she squeezed his hand hard enough to break his fingers.

We all ended up eating breakfast in the cafeteria, and then around noon, lunch. It was nearly one when we all trooped back in and found a nurse examining Jo. "You're nearly fully dilated," she told Jo. "It'll be very soon."

"Hey, the baby's three weeks early," Carlos spoke up, frowning. "Is it normal for her to go into labor so early?"

The nurse smiled. "Depends on the circumstances. But in this case, it's pretty normal."

Well, that was vague.

Logan furrowed his brow. "Kendall…what did you and Jo do tonight? Sexual interaction can induce labor, you know."

That caused us all to spin around to glare at Kendall, who turned bright red. "It was Valentine's Day! And she's my wife!"

"Okay. Eeew," I said. "We did not need conformation on that."

The doctor came in and bustled over to Jo, before Kendall could come up with a retort.

"She's fully dilated," the nurse told the doctor.

"Good. Now Jo, when I say push, you're going to push as hard as you can."

Jo nodded, sweat dripping down her face and beading on her lips.

"Good…on the count of three…one…two…THREE! PUSH!"

It was like watching a train wreck – it was impossible to look away. Jo screamed and strained until she was turning blue, while Kendall and Mr. Taylor both gripped her hands, eyes wide.

"YOU! KENDALL KNIGHT! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, HAVING SEX WITH ME WITHOUT PROTECTION?"

Oh, wow. That was an embarrassing thing to be shouted in front of an audience.

Kendall laughed awkwardly. "Uh, actually we did use a condom, it just happened to break."

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD WAIT UNTIL I COULD GET MORE PROTECTION!"

Oh, wow. This was better than pay-per-view, truth and dare, and the copy-and-paste game put together.

"Uhhh…I love you too sweetie-pie," Kendall said.

"I can see its head!" the doctor cried.

"WELL, I DAMN WELL HOPE SO!" Jo shrieked at him. "IF MY KID DIDN'T HAVE A HEAD I WOULD SHOOT YOU IN YOUR HEAD!"

Kendall laughed, even more awkwardly than last time. "Pain doesn't really agree with her."

Jo turned to glare at him ferociously, and he shrunk back a little. "OH, YOU THINK SO, KENDALL KNIGHT? WHAT GAVE IT AWAY? ME SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER?"

"I'm just going to shut up now," Kendall muttered.

"Come on, Jo, PUSH! PUSH!" the doctor urged her on.

"YOU PUSH! THESE PAIN MEDS YOU GAVE ME? YEAH, THEY'RE SHITTY!"

"Jo, the baby's almost out!" the doctor cried. "Just one more push!"

"I CAN'T!"

"YES YOU CAN!" Kendall assured her, a bit too loudly. "YOU CAN DO IT, JO! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU! I KNOW YOU CAN!"

There was silence except for Jo's wordless screams, Kendall's muffled moans as she squeezed his hand,

and then…There was a baby's cry.

"It's a girl!" the doctor proclaimed to the room.

"It's a girl!" Kendall cried, leaping up onto his chair and punching the air with excitement.

"It's a girl!" Jo sobbed, voice hoarse from screaming, tears streaming down her cheeks with happiness.

"It's a girl!" I screamed and flung myself into James's arms, who picked me up and swung me around, kissing me.

"Ohmigosh!" Camille shrieked, and threw herself so hard at Logan that he collapsed on the floor with her on top of him. She kissed him all over his face, leaving lipstick marks, standing out against his red hot face.

"YES!" Stephanie screeched, and kissed Carlos full on the mouth.

Mom hugged Kendall, then Jo, then me, and finally Mr. Taylor, although the two parents stepped back, looking slightly disturbed by the contact.

While we were all screaming and jumping and kissing and hugging each other with joy, the doctor had been cleaning the baby girl off and swaddling her in a soft, cotton blanket. He handed her to Jo, and the new mommy gently cradled her in her arms, smiling happily down into her daughter's face, before beaming at Kendall.

"We did it, Kendall! We did it!"

"Yes we did," Kendall said, smiling brilliantly as he kissed his wife's forehead, and then his daughter's.

Oh, wow. His daughter…that was going to take some getting used to…

I wiped at my eyes as James held me from behind, just as he had at the reception, when Kendall and Jo had been climbing into the car to leave for their honeymoon.

"What're you going to name her?" Stephanie asked, head on Carlos's shoulder.

Kendall and Jo smiled at each other, before Jo answered, "Brianna Katherine Jamie Taylor-Knight."

"Her middle name's my name, and…James's," I observed oh-so brilliantly.

"You two are her namesakes," Kendall said with a grin. "We got to talking, and figured out that if you two hadn't been doing your whole fake-dating scheme, and hadn't somehow dragged us into the entire mess without us even realizing, we never would have gotten things straightened out. It's because of you two that we ended up back in the apartment with everything getting laid out on the table."

"Well, in that case, we're very happy to have helped you out," James said, and I could tell he was grinning back at Kendall.

"So this is our way of thanking you for…well…just being yourselves really, because if you two weren't crazy, we might never have gotten back together, and who knows if I would have even kept Brianna," Jo sniffed out, before cuddling her daughter even closer to her.

Eventually, we were all ushered out so that Jo could sleep, although Kendall insisted on staying with her and Brianna.

We all promised to come back in a few hours, but for now…

"Well, I'm heading off to my fiancé's apartment," Logan announced, arm around Camille.

"And I'm going to crash at Stephanie's…besides, I think I left some stuff there," Carlos added.

We all stared at him.

"Like what?" Logan demanded.

"Like my wallet."

"Please tell me you weren't the one who drove here."

"Now would I really let him drive without a license?" Stephanie asked Logan rhetorically, leaning into Carlos.

"I never know with you."

"Well, we're headed back to the apartment," James proclaimed, before glancing down at me. "Unless you had somewhere else to be?"

"Nope, nowhere."

It was such a relief to get back into 2J. For the past fourteen hours, my body had been running straight off of adrenaline, but it was beginning to lose fuel, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I collapsed right where I was standing.

"Come on," James said, taking me by the hand, and leading me into his room. "I want you next to me, and we'll pick up where we left off later."

I yawned as I sat down wearily on his bed. "I still need to text Gabi and Kyle and Scarlett and tell them about the baby. But maybe I'll do that later…"

James tossed me a shirt, and I held it up, looking at him questioningly.

"You looked so beautiful in my shirt earlier – "

I laughed. "You adorable cheese ball, you."

"I'll just pretend that's a compliment."

"It is, in a really weird way," I told him.

"Hey, how's those overworked muscles?" he asked, winking at me.

"Much better now, thanks."

"I'm going to go brush my teeth. I'll back in a minute."

While he was gone, I changed into his t-shirt. It hung on me like a sheet, but somehow, I didn't think James was going to mind.

It was the first time I had had any time to really process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, but when I finally was able to wrap my mind around everything, I still didn't regret anything. Being with James like that…it was beyond amazing. I shivered with pleasure just thinking about it.

But for the time being, all I wanted to do was curl up next to him with his arms around me, and sleep.

James came out of the bathroom and I took his place, running the toothbrush over my teeth, still thinking. I was now an aunt! Kendall was now a father! My mother was a grandmother! Jo was a mother! Brianna Katherine Jamie Taylor-Knight was the most beautiful baby in the world, and I couldn't help but be completely excited, even in my current zombie state, to visit her later. And I couldn't wait to help plan Logan and Camille's wedding – wow! Logan was getting married! To Camille! Holy crap!

I spat out the mouthful of toothpaste and rinsed twice, before running a brush through my tangled hair, and washing my face.

I walked back to James's room. He was already dressed in sweatpants and nothing else, his usual pajamas, and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, where I had been just a couple of minutes previously.

"Hey," I said, smiling.

"Hey." He smiled back, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him so he could kiss me. "You look even better in my shirt when there's actually light in the room."

I laughed. "I hear light does tend to help people see better. It's just a rumor though."

There was a pause and I gently traced the bones of his cheeks, the softness of his lips, with my index finger, thinking about how lucky I was to have him, to be here with him, and knowing whole-heartedly that the feeling was mutual.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked softly, before moving so that he was tenderly sucking on my finger.

"I'm just thinking that…I wouldn't trade this moment for the world, and I wouldn't trade you for the universe."

He smiled, and I pulled my finger out of his mouth so that he could reply. He pulled me down on the bed beside him, gently pushing me down, and then climbing onto the mattress so that he could lie beside me.

We laid there on our sides, facing each other. James traced my cheekbone, my jaw line, and down to my neck, with his finger.

"You know what, Katie? Neither would I. I love you."

"I love you too," I said, and then he kissed me.

I smiled against his lips. Everything was finally the way it was meant to be.

THE END

Wow...was that the definition of fluff or what? And I don't even usually write fluff, but the entire epilogue is filled to the brim with sweetness and cuteness and romance and a little bit of sex! Wow.

Okay, so how many people vomited from all the sugary-ness of the epilogue? I tried to take out some of the fluff, but it still ended up being...well...like this.

So, I do want to mention the point of the epilogue, and the reason why so much of it seems to be focused on Katie and James consumating their relationship. My reasoning for writing it out like that is because it just seemed like there was too much sexual tension between the two of them throughout the story (completely my fault) and I just had to release some of the tension between them, if that makes any sense. Plus, considering everyone was always joking or complaining about whether or not they were sleeping with each other, it just kind of made sense...

But anyway, what'd you guys think of the epilogue? Was it okay? Was it great? Was it just...blah?

I can't believe the story's finally over! I don't think I've ever finished a story as quickly as I wrote this one - just a little over two months! Now I'm proud of myself *smiles happily*.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read "Hot Water"! You're all awesome!

So a lot of people have been asking me for a sequel...and there might be one eventually, because I kind of have an idea for one, so we'll see.

The review button...Yeah, it's sad about the story ending, and it's been pigging out on ice cream and candy bars and stuff, and it really needs a good workout...So would you all be so kind as to help it out? All you have to do is click on it and leave a review. That would make both the review button and me very happy :)

Peace out,

Science-Fantasy93 ;)