10:22 pm

Kat was curled up in a ball on the couch, a half-eaten bag of M&Ms in one hand, a huge cup of coffee in the other, and tears welling up in her eyes as Robert DeNiro told James Woods that he turned in a dead friend long ago to save his life.

Tap tap tap.

Kat let out a banshee-like scream and spilled coffee all over herself as she whirled around to stare at the window. John Bender was already pushing the unlocked window up and climbing his way into the house. Kat just stood there with her jaw dropped as the criminal came over and plopped down on her couch.

"What are we watching?" he asked with the same tone you might expect to hear in a conversation about the weather.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Kat shrieked.

"Watching something apparently. What is it we're watching?"

"Once Upon a Time in America. Again, what the bloody hell are you doing in my house?"

"Parents are beating the shit out of each other and I got bored listening to it. I know your mom went out for the night, so I figured you'd want some company."

"I have a cat. He's plenty company for me," Kat grumbled, but made no move to kick him out. Instead, she picked up the kitchen towel she'd brought into the den and began wiping the coffee off of her sopping top. "Besides, you've just walked in on the end. Not going to do you much good now."

"What's on after this?" Bender asked, picking up the TV Guide and ignoring her.

"Arsenic and Old Lace… I think. Bender, just because you're bored doesn't mean you can just break into my house and sit on my couch and watch my telly!"

"Then kick me out," Bender shrugged.

Kat sat there and stared at him. She knew if she told him to leave, he would probably leave. But a guy like John Bender probably didn't have a lot of friends. So she let him stay, and they watched Arsenic and Old Lace together, not saying much of anything.

"So I guess your dad never came back, did he?" Bender asked in the middle of the movie.

"Didn't have a chance. We skipped town, err… country, before he could talk my mum into getting back together with him. What are your parents fighting about?"

"Same old, same old. She burnt his dinner or didn't fold his socks right or didn't slap me straight. Whatever he can think of. He'll throw some punches and she'll wear long sleeved shirts for a week or two. He never touches her face." Bender was saying this nonchalantly, but Kat had a feeling that he stayed so emotionless so he wouldn't show his humanity. Elisabeth pulled her car into the drive, and Bender took it as his cue to leave. "Thanks for the distraction, limey. I guess I'll see you around." And before Elisabeth had even put the key in the door, John Bender was already in his room, smoking a cigarette and listening to a Bob Dylan record. Just like that, Bender had disappeared.

"Hello sweetie!" Elisabeth said brightly as she came into the room. "How was your evening."

"Err… strange, I suppose," Kat replied. Elisabeth raised an eyebrow, but when it became obvious that Kat wasn't going to elaborate any further, she sighed and came to kiss her daughter's forehead and sit down on the couch.

"Sweetheart, I need to ask you a favour."

Kat sighed and pressed 'mute' on the television remote. "Yes mum?"

"I really enjoy Judy's company, and I think it would be nice if you got to know her son. I know you know Andrew, but I think it would be good for you if you tried to make some friends in this town: we're going to be here for a while."

"Mum, I've met Judy's son and he's a complete jackass," Kat groaned. "I mean… maybe not a total jackass, but he's not anyone I care to spend more than a couple of hours around."

Elisabeth gave her a forlorn look. "Please? For your dear old mum?"

"Mum…" Kat rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Katherine Keith Rathbone, do I have to lock you two in a room together and throw away the key? All I'm asking is that you hang out with him, just for one day. I know it would make Judy happy, and it would make me happy too." Kat groaned and covered her own face with a pillow, biting it so she wouldn't scream. Elisabeth let a broad grin break out over her face – she knew that she'd won. "And besides, your term doesn't start until after the holidays, so you might have more than just Andrew as a friend when you start school."

Kat refused to move the pillow from her head, and after a few minutes she heard the familiar sounds of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Damn that woman. She moved the pillow away only to realise that her mum had left her a new cup of coffee and a Cadbury bar before going upstairs to bed.

Maybe, just maybe, hanging out with Bender wouldn't be too bad.