Once she got out of the shower, she put on her most comfortable pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt and settled down on the couch with her favorite DVD. Normally, when this occurred, her kitten would bounce up and sit with her for the duration of the film. There was no bouncing, however, and when Katie called the cat, it didn’t come.

Halfway through the movie, she was still looking frantically around the apartment, but there was no sign of the little fur ball.

Naturally, Katie lost her head and went completely insane, worrying about the cat being out in the hallways, or worse, out on the streets of New York City.

“Frodo’s missing,” Katie squeaked the second Aaron picked up his phone.

“He’s not missing, Katie. He’s on a quest, but everyone knows where he is. Well, except…oh, are you watching Return of the King? When everyone thinks he’s dead, but then Aragorn is like, ‘What does your heart tell you?’”

“Aaron, FRODO is missing. Not Baggins. MY CAT!”

There was a second’s pause. “Your cat’s name is Frodo?”

She sighed dramatically. “I need your help. Will you please come over and help me find him? He might be dead! Oh, my God! When you get here, make sure to look for road kill in front of my building. Oh, Aaron.” She sniffed. “What if he’s dead. I’ll never forgive myself. I’ve been so selfish lately and I wasn’t paying him any attention.”

“Katie,” Aaron’s voice was stern, and yet soothing. “Sit down. Take a deep breath. I’ll be right there. It’s going to be okay. We’ll find him.”

Five minutes later, Aaron knocked on the door. This was a bit miraculous since his hotel room was a good twenty minutes away when there wasn’t traffic. Considering it was rush hour, he must have been on his way over when she called. Katie, however, was too caught up in the cat saga to realize this.

“Oh, thank God,” Katie gasped, throwing her arms around Aaron’s neck.

When she pulled away, she started sobbing into her t-shirt sleeves; Aaron closed the door gently behind him and guided her over to the couch.

“Don’t cry. I’ve got him. I found him on the stairs. Poor thing was scared to death.”

Katie continued to sob, her shoulders shaking violently. Aaron sat down beside her and placed the kitten in her lap, who mewed a bit and then settled down for a nap; Aaron was rubbing Katie’s back, trying to get her to calm down.

“He’s okay, Katie,” Aaron said, kissing her temple and brushing some wet hair from her face. “He’s right here. Don’t cry.”

“I’m----n--not----c--crying--o---over---him!”

Aaron stared at her. “Then why the hell are you crying?”

Katie wiped at her eyes and tried to get her breathing controlled before she attempted to speak. Aaron passed her a box of tissues and waited patiently.

She blew her nose and looked up at him, her eyes wet. “Thank you for finding him.”

He smiled warmly at her. “It was no problem; he was only upstairs. But you’re welcome.”

“Oh, God,” Katie groaned, rolling her eyes, “Why are you so nice? I don’t deserve it. I‘ve been so horrible to you.”

Aaron shrugged. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Without realizing, Katie started stroking the cat as she stared at the television screen, which was still playing the movie from earlier.

Aaron followed her gaze and guffawed. “Why are you watching this again?”

Katie stuck her tongue out at him. “I love this movie.”

He shook his head, laughing, and relaxed against the couch, putting his arm around her; on reflex, she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Oh, it’s so sweet when she does the grand gesture!” Aaron mimicked, his voice high-pitched as he imitated (badly) Katie’s girly voice.

Katie shoved him playfully on the chest. “It IS sweet.”

“You only think Matthew Goode is hot.”

“That may be true, but the movie itself is very cute.”

“Mandy’s cute,” Aaron commented lightly, and received a pillow in his face, which he promptly put behind his head. He was beginning to think he should stay quiet and just sit there because things were starting to be normal between them and he liked the two of them teasing each other and laughing together; he liked it much more than the yelling and the crying, anyway.

Katie looked up at him; he was upside down from her viewpoint. “Aaron?”

He looked down at her quizzically. “Yup.”

“I really am sorry.” She kissed him hesitantly on the cheek; part of her was dying to kiss him for real and the other part of her was holding her back for some reason.

Aaron nodded slowly. “I know. It’s okay.”

Katie relaxed against him again, her head on his chest and he idly ran his hands through her hair as they watched the credits roll by on the screen. Katie did her very best to stop the tears from pooling on Aaron’s shirt, and Aaron did his best to stop himself from thinking about her.