I was not expecting to update twice within four days, but this idea just kind of came to me. To those that have sent me requests, I haven't forgotten about them, don't worry!
Katherine made her way to the back of the train and sighed. She'd been in upstate New York for two weeks for an article, and honestly she was just glad to get back to her only friends, Bill Hearst and Darcy Reid. She was used to seeing them everyday, and she'd been missing them.
"Can I sit here?" Katherine was pulled out of her thoughts, and looked up to see a tired-looking young man standing in the aisle. "There's no seats left in the front."
"What? Oh, sure." Katherine moved her bag from the seat next to her onto the floor so he could sit next to her.
"Thanks." He said, sitting. "I'm Jack Kelly." He held out his hand. She shook it.
"Katherine Plumber." She really hoped he wasn't the kind of person that liked to talk their seatmate's ears off. She was definitely not in the mood for that. Luckily, that wasn't a problem, as Jack had dozed off about five minutes after the train started moving. Katherine observed him for a minute. His jaw was relaxed, and his mouth was hanging open slightly. He was kind of cute, she noticed, and then suddenly scolded herself for what she was doing. Watching a stranger sleeping, and thinking that he was cute? She shook her head and pulled out a book. She was just getting lost in the story when she felt a weight on her shoulder and immediately tensed up, before realizing that Jack's head was what had landed on her shoulder. She wasn't at all comfortable with this, but he looked exhausted and she didn't want to wake him, so she took a deep breath and returned to her book. And she was fine, until something wet and slightly warm began to spread on her shoulder. Was that...? Katherine looked over and her suspicions were confirmed as she saw Jack drooling. On her. She was conflicted. She still really didn't want to have to wake him up, but this was her favorite jacket. So, she set her book to the side and shook his arm gently. "Excuse me? Mr. Kelly?" Jack woke up with a start, jerking his head off of her shoulder. He looked at her, bleary-eyed.
"Huh?" He looked so confused, Katherine almost wanted to laugh.
"I'm really sorry, but, um, you were kind of..." She trailed off, gesturing to her shoulder. His eyes grew wide as he realized what she meant.
"Oh my God." He was obviously mortified. "I was drooling...?" Katherine nodded. "On your shoulder?" Another nod. "Oh my God, oh my God!" He ran a hand over his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I just, I've had a really long, really hard week and I just... I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine, I just – "
"No, no, I totally get it. I'm really sorry, it won't happen again, I'm gonna make a point to stay awake now, it won't happen again."
"Okay," Katherine nodded, "Thank you." She returned to her book, comfortable once more. After all, he had promised he would try to stay awake for the rest of the trip, so that obviously wouldn't happen again, right?
oOo
Katherine had been wrong. Jack had indeed tried to stay awake, but it turned out he was fighting a losing battle, and eventually, sleep won, and Jack's head landed back onto Katherine's shoulder about an hour later. He was drooling again, and this time he was snoring softly as well. She certainly wasn't going to wake him up again, and make him feel even worse than he'd obviously felt the first time. She tried to finish her book, but that proved to be nearly impossible with Jack snoring on her shoulder, so she finally gave up and put the book down with a sigh. She stared out of the window blankly for about twenty minutes, though not really looking at anything. Jack didn't move. Eventually, Katherine realized how tired she was, so she closed her eyes and joined Jack in his nap.
oOo
At some point while they were asleep, Katherine's own head had found a place on top of Jack's while Jack continued resting on her shoulder. And that was how they stayed until the train came to a stop, waking them both. After taking a few minutes to get their bearings, they both stared at each other, embarrassed. Jack glanced at her shoulder and grimaced.
"It happened again, didn't it?" Katherine nodded, and winced, rubbing her neck which was sore from the awkward way it had been bent. "I am so sorry, Katherine." He repeated his words from earlier.
"It's fine, really." Katherine dismissed him, grabbing her bag and standing up. "And I'm sorry for using your head as a pillow, which, apparently, I did."
"It's okay." He chuckled, standing up as well. "Not the first time I've been used as a pillow." She laughed at that as they walked off the train together. "So, you live in Manhattan, or are you visiting?" He asked her.
"No, I live here." She confirmed. They walked out of the station. "In an apartment building, over that way." She gestured in a vague direction, but apparently Jack could tell what way she meant, and his eyes brightened.
"Hey, my apartment's over there too! Let me walk you home?"
"Oh, that's really not necessary."
"No, c'mon, let me walk you over there. Y'know, as a sort of apology for drooling all over you, your jacket's probably ruined." Katherine hesitated.
"You're sure it's not out of the way?"
"I'm sure."
"Well... okay." Jack grinned and they started walking. On the way, they talked, told each other about themselves. Katherine told Jack about her job, Bill and Darcy, and her parents. Jack told Katherine about how he wanted to make a career out of his art, all of the boys, and the fact that he has no parents. They ended up stopping in front of the same apartment building, as it turned out they both lived in the same place. So, they kept talking as the walked up the flights of stairs, until they both stopped on the third floor, and Jack started laughing.
"So, we live in the same building, on the same floor. What, are we next door neighbors who never met?" Katherine giggled, which was odd. She never giggled, but luckily Jack didn't know that.
"We'll see." So they started walking again, and Katherine stopped in front of her door.
"Well, there you go." Jack said, smiling. "I live across the hall and a few doors down."
"Then I suppose I'll see you again?"
"I hope so." He flashed her a grin, before turning and disappearing into his apartment. Katherine walked into her own place and set her bag down, before removing her now stained jacket. She sighed happily, and found herself desperately hoping to meet the drooling Jack Kelly again soon.
