Roommates | Kate & Ana

Chapter 11- Home

The airport is packed with people as usual when my mom pulls up to the entrance to let me out. I place one hand on my suitcase and unbuckle my seatbelt, then I pause, hesitant to leave. I don't want to leave her yet. Spending the weekend together wasn't enough. "I'm gonna miss you so much. You have to come back and visit some time soon." I nod, letting go of my hold on my suitcase. "Thank you for everything, Mama." I pull her in for a hug, resting my head on her shoulder. "Take care of yourself, sweetheart." Tears spring into my eyes and I blink them away. "I will. I love you." My voice cracks. "I love you too, honey." I take a deep breath and release my grip on her. "Alright. I've gotta go or I'll miss my flight." I straighten up in my seat and swing open the car door. "Bye, honey." I hop out, suitcase in hand. "Bye, mama." I wave, then I slam the passenger door shut and run off to catch my flight back to Seattle.

After my flight lands I'm surprised to find Josè waiting for me at the airport instead of Kate. When I approach him he's standing on his own holding up a piece of paper with my name on it. "Hey!" I wrap my arms around him and pull him in for a quick hug. "What are you doing here? Where's Kate?" I ask, taking a step back from him. "Kate called me and said she couldn't pick you up so I came instead. She said something came up." He explains. "Oh, okay." I wonder what Kate had to do. Josè smiles at me and takes my hand. "Come on, car's this way." He leads me out to the parking lot and to his car. He holds the car door open for me and I hop into the passenger seat.

I stare silently out the window as he drives, only partially listening to the music Josè has blasting from the radio. Suddenly, he turns the radio down to almost silent and glances over at me. "I'm sorry Kate couldn't pick you up. I'm sure you weren't expecting to see me today." He's right, I didn't expect to see him today, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to see Kate either. "No, it's fine. I'm happy you came instead of Kate." I say. "Did you and Kate get into a fight or something?" He looks over at me, eyebrows raised. I shake my head. "No, were fine. She's just a little...overbearing sometimes. I guess."

I open my apartment door and Kate jumps out at me. "Surprise!" She screams, smiling hugely at me. "What? Kate? What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that?" I look her up and down, confused. "I wanted to surprise you." She poses, hand on hip. "With this." She gestures to her black low cut dress and stilettos combo. "Do you like it?" She asks. "Yeah, Kate. It looks fine." I mumble, tossing my suitcase on the floor. I yank my jacket off and run my fingers through my hair. "What's wrong? I ignore her, stepping past her and taking a seat on the couch. "Don't ignore me like that, Ana! What's wrong?" I press my fingers to my temple, pinching my eyes shut. "I just don't understand you." I whisper. "This weekend....You called my mom. Why would you do that?" Kate stares at me, obviously confused. "What?" I roll my eyes. "You can't just call my mom, Kate! That was so out of line!" She looks shocked by my outburst. "I'm sorry. I was just worried about you. You weren't answering my texts." She frowns, still not comprehending. "Why do you care so much if I call your mom?" She questions. "Because I don't understand what's going on! With you...With us. I don't understand it! What do you want from me, Kate?" I take a deep breath, looking down at the floor. "I don't know what I'm supposed to tell people about us when they ask about us. I know you say you want me, but I don't even know what that means. Then all these other guys like you. Elliot especially. Even Christian Grey probably." There's no shortage of men lined up waiting for Kate. "Ana......I don't know what to say." She hesitantly takes a seat next to me on the couch. "I tell everyone about you. My friends, my family, even Elliot. I told them all not to bring it up and to act normal around you because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. The only person I haven't told is Josè and that's because I knew he would want to hear it from you and I didn't think you were ready for that." She explains. "But what about all those other guys you were with before me?" I don't understand why she would choose me over them. I don't understand why she would choose me over anyone. "What about them? The only reason I was ever with any of them was because I thought I would never get the chance to be with you. But then by some miracle you wanted me back and now I'm never letting you go. I love you, Anastasia Rose Steele." I'm stunned, completely speechless. Kate loves......me? I love her."I love you too." I whisper. "I know you do." She smiles, then slowly she leans in and kisses me. When she pulls away I bury my face in my hands, feeling like the biggest idiot in the whole world. "God, I feel so stupid. I've been acting like a crazy jealous bitch for weeks." Kate giggles, nudging my shoulder. "You're not the only one who can get crazy jealous. Remember when I had to interview Christian Grey a while back?" She asks. "Yeah...?" Where's she going with this? I thought Christian Grey would be old news by now. "Well, I had been flirting with him to try to get him to reveal some personal information to me since he's always so uptight. Anyway, he completely shut me down and said I wasn't his type so of course I thought he meant he was gay." She starts. "Ugh, Kate..." I shake my head at her. Can't she just let people have their privacy? "But then he saw you at graduation and he wanted me to introduce you two but I lied and told him you were already seeing someone because I didn't want you to fall for him when I was finally getting a chance to be with you. I mean obviously I can't compete with Christian Fucking Grey." I laugh out loud. "Kate, that's ridiculous. There's no competition." I would never fall for a guy like Christian Grey. Ever. "Shhh! Let me finish." She shushes me. "As I was saying....That's why I make it so obvious that I'm flirting with you in front of the guys even though I know it makes you uncomfortable. I just don't want to ever risk losing you." She admits. "You don't have to worry about that, Kate." I assure her. "Good. Are you still mad or am I forgiven?" I giggle. "You're forgiven." She smiles. "Thank god! I knew you were mad when you started using hand gestures. The whole time you were yelling at me your hands were flailing around everywhere." She laughs. "I do not use hand gestures!" I yell, my hands automatically flying out in front of me. Kate smirks, slowly pushing my hands back down to my sides. "Okay, fine. Maybe I do." Kate and I laugh. "Can I ask you something?" Kate asks, suddenly serious again. "Did you get mad at me for calling your mom because you don't want her to know about us?" I sigh, glancing down at the floor. "Yes. I mean not really. It's not that I don't want her to know I'm just scared to tell her." I admit. "Do you think she wouldn't approve?" I shake my head. "I don't know." I wish I did, it would make things a lot easier if I had her to talk to about this. "Well, you don't have to tell her until you're absolutely ready." She wraps her arm around my shoulder and gently strokes my arm. "Okay." I take a deep breath, then lay my head on Kate's shoulder. She runs her fingers through my hair, looking down at me. "That visit to Georgia really paid off. You look amazing with a little sun on your skin." She reaches out and brushes her fingertips against my cheek. "You look pretty great yourself." My eyes wander down to her chest and I bite my lip. Her low-cut dress doesn't leave much to the imagination. "Wow. Real subtle, Ana." She jokes, smirking at me. "Seriously though, the sun agrees with you. How would you feel about taking a little trip with me to Barbados? Get some sun on your skin and we could have some alone time together..." Kate and I spending a weekend together completely alone? I can only imagine what that would include. "That sounds amazing, Kate. I'd love to." She smiles, pleased with me for accepting her offer. Then she leans in and kisses me, making me forget everything about our fight.

Authors Note; Kate and Ana in Barbados instead of Kate and Elliot? Fuck yes!!!