Two Worlds
by I_sa

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The girls aren't mine, just in my mind. There are references to "Inside of Love" by Nada Surf. I also took a few lines from, "Roswell" so if you know which ones and you could pick it out, please don't sue me. I don't have the money or the time. *pouts* The prettiest please?
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. Despite my culinary expertise or lack there of and almost lopping my finger off and fainting at the sight of my own blood. *looks up and ponders* Hmm, thank you for letting me be still alive, but I could have done without the embarrassment of the whole kitchen getting quiet and the blurred faces of everyone asking me if I had seen a light.
A/N 2: Sorry Arianna, I couldn't wait for the beta-ness. It's been crazy as hell, and this week I will have a hard time to get this out. So today it's all or nothing, and *looks around at the expectant faces* many, many of you still continue to bug me a few.  *winks* But still, thanks to Arianna, and everyone else who still continue to poke and prod. It's great to feel loved.
CH 1&2: I know it's been a while (or 6 months give or take), if you need refreshing.  10232, 10384
Dedication: You know who you are: So never mind the darkness/ We still can find a way/ 'Cause nothin' lasts forever/ Even cold November rain.
 

PART 3

I felt myself expel the breath that I had been apparently holding without realizing it. The phone still insistently rang in the background and in my mind I imagined myself throwing it out the window, grabbing Katie in my arms, and.

"Huh?" I said distractedly. Katie was talking to me.

"I need to get that. I'm sure it's my agent. She always calls at the right timing," Katie gave me a lopsided apologetic grin.

I nodded and smiled back. As I watched her walk away I felt my mind wander as I quickly came to the conclusion that my life works in predictable patterns.

Slow. Fast. Sudden.

Slowly inching closer. A fast heart beat. A sudden interruption.

"Hello?...Yes, I got it.Yes. Yes. I have everything under control." Katie said in an exasperated tone.

Slow even breathes. My heart beating too fast, and with a blink of an eye, she was suddenly in front of me.

I loved the way she stood close to me. It was calm, comforting, and above all it felt safe.

"That was just my agent. She wants me to become more productive and come out with some more," she shrugged and sighed. "It's just that I haven't been inspired lately. I have a ton of unfinished work. And the ones that I already have I feel like I had it for ages." She looked at me as if searching, as if hoping to find an answer in my eyes. "It's like I can feel it inside me. I know it's there. I could almost feel it. I could almost see it. I just don't know how to get there. How to start it."

I nodded. "I know the last page so well, I can't read the first."

"Exactly," I could see the love for her work written clearly on her face. In her body language. She was shaking with passion.

Now that was inspiring. I walked closer to her and touched her arm just wanting to be closer.

"It will come to you."

She grinned and stepped even closer to me - so close, so, so close. "I know it will." With the look she was giving me, I started shaking as well. With the same intensity, and probably even more passion.

A soft `ding' came from the oven. It came almost apologetically, so softly as if it didn't want to interrupt us. We both blushed and looked down shyly.

"Dinner," Katie mumbled softly and I couldn't help but smile.

Slowly we both headed toward the kitchen. My heartbeat was still beating too fast, but the way Katie was looking at me while we ate dinner, I knew she was feeling the same way. Suddenly, the predictable pattern that was my life just wasn't so bad anymore.  

**********

We ended up in her studio after dinner and she watched me as I moved around the room, staring at her beautiful pictures, giving each one of them equal amount of attention as the next.

One of them caught my eye and I walked to it as if hypnotized. It drew me in, and I got lost in it. I put my hand up and slowly ran my fingers along the tiny strands spiraling into the center of the canvas, getting darker and darker till it reached the center. It was beautiful.

I felt Katie walk up to me from behind. I could feel her breath on my neck, and her warmth radiating off her and onto me. I closed my eyes and sighed, unconsciously leaning into her. She didn't mind, and seconds later I felt her arms around me, exactly where I wanted them to be.

"It reminds me of my life. Spinning out of control, destined to fall off balance one day."

"I don't believe that's your destiny." She had seen something in me from the start, something that I hadn't. How could I not fall for this girl even from the beginning?

I smiled and looked up at her. I wondered why she had taken an interest in me. I was broken from the start, "Oh yeah? Tell me then Katie, what is my destiny?"

"I only know the part I'm hoping for."

And with that, I felt her lips on mine for the first time and I was spinning. But for the first time in the life of Jessie Sammler, there was no darkness in the center.
 

TBC.