Over a manic year later and I have an update for this story which changes it to 'On-Going' ... which is not my preference seeing as I already have on-going stories and I am awful at updating, hence the year-long wait ^^" Either way...

Enjoy the story, mi amigos!


Lonely Needs a Friend

Chapter 2

Sleep? Never heard of her. Especially after the events of the early hours that morning. How was he supposed to sleep after that? How was he supposed to sleep after a visit from a ghost of his past? How was he supposed to sleep after she had quite literally thrown herself at him? And why on Earth had he rejected her?

Because it didn't feel right. It felt like he was taking advantage of her when she clearly wasn't thinking right, even though she were the instigator. It felt wrong. But then when had he ever cared about right and wrong? Sure he had renounced his Heylin ways but that didn't mean he would now go out of his way to save the world. So why had it bothered him so much?

She was in love with another. That may have been the real reason behind his refusal. Any other girl and he may have taken them up on the offer but not her. Not Kimiko who he had been attracted to for so long. Not Kimiko who he grew to respect and found himself quietly crushing on. He had only hit on her maybe once or twice in their youth - that he could remember - and she had rejected any advances. He had taken it well and opted to just admire her from afar but that hadn't stopped the way his stomach stirred when she glanced his way or spoke his name - insults and childish nicknames alike. It seemed that adolescent crushes didn't simply leave you, as proven by his physical reaction at finding her online profile and then coming face to face with her.

Something wasn't right. She still hadn't explained what was going on in her mind earlier. Just why had she wanted to bed him? Though she quickly backed off and became a tad defensive when he accused her of using him. And although she had stated otherwise, that didn't mean she was telling the truth.

Either way he didn't want to be some careless fuck. If they were to end up sleeping together he wanted her to want him and not just settle for him because she was bored and he was all she could get. He was determined to reconnect with the girl but if she tried anything again he wasn't so sure how long he would be able to resist her - if at all.

The xiaolin monk had left him restless and confused all day. All he could think about were indecent thoughts of where things may have led had he not stopped them and then about their plans for later in the day. Had their reunion been different, he would have worn something smart and dressed to impress. However he did not want to give her the wrong impression or to cause her to think too deeply into this… date.

That's what it was, right? A date? She was coming to his place and he was taking her to dinner. But it was just that he wanted to cheer her up and spend time reconnecting. He wasn't wining and dining her in order to rush head first into a complicated not-quite-platonic relationship. With that in mind, he dressed smart-casual. Plain black dress-shirt and faded black jeans, both of which he had to spend the morning washing in order to wear.

Then was the issue of his face. His sleep-deprived sunken eyes left him feeling less than confident so, though he hadn't worn any make up in some time, the ease in which he applied a little pale foundation showed his teenage experience. With that his skin didn't look quite so sickly or uneven, it actually looked a little smoother and Jack found himself considering wearing it a little more often like he used to - if only to feel a tad bit better about himself. He outlined his eyes with some guyliner but left it at that, choosing not to fall head first back into the goth makeup... at least for now.

Jack decided to busy himself with chores while he waited for the hours to crawl past and began cleaning the manor. He got the Jackbots involved as well - cleaning the Spicer manor could take days alone. He figured he may as well tidy up if she were coming over to hang out before they went to dinner, at least he knew now to expect her. While he was scooping up his dirty laundry from his wardrobe and floor, he contemplated what was the point of tidying his room now. She had already seen it. Also it's not like he was going to be inviting her back up here anytime soon. The young man sighed deeply but continued his chores nonetheless.

The former Heylin boy had finished his own cleaning with an hour to spare, so he grabbed a book and slid down into the lounger in the entrance hall of the manor. Jack must have read some of the paragraphs over and over, pronouciating the words but not quite understanding their meaning with how worked up his mind was that day. The anticipation was just causing too much nervous energy that he was struggling to ignore.

When it was twenty minutes until she was due to arrive, Jack threw the book down beside himself and jumped up to his feet. Maybe he should wait for her outside. Or would that be too eager? No, it would be polite… right?

"Ah!" he groaned from his inner turmoil and decided to just wait outside whether she would think it polite or not.

Jack opened the door but froze when blue eyes stared back into his crimson ones. Kimiko cleared her throat and lowered her outstretched arm. She seemed abashed unlike last night. She smiled shyly up at him, "Uh, hi."

"Hi," Jack repeated dumbly and after a moment almost like he had earlier in the morning he remembered to move out of the way a second later. He gestured for her to come in and she did.

The young woman had changed her own outfit from this morning as well, now wearing a cute layered mauve skirt and a black jumper with the shoulders cut out. She had on opaque tights and a pair of black lace up boots that only rose halfway up her calf. She was beautiful and Jack had to remind himself that this was meant to be a platonic date. If they got closer down the line then fine but right now it was about re-establishing a relationship that was hopefully more friendly than when they were kids.

But a compliment was always a sure fire way to make someone feel better so he didn't stop himself, "You look beautiful."

She chuckled softly, almost as if she was embarrassed. It was so strange given how brazen she had acted in his bedroom when she was trying to seduce him. She smiled sweetly and replied, "Thank you. I don't have many nice clothes with me at the moment but I thought this might be nice enough for a meal in town."

"Really?" Jack asked, just trying to make conversation, "I thought you had tons of clothes at the temple. Y'know given all the wigs and cosplay bits along with the J-fashion stuff."

Was it just his imagination or did her expression crack just for a second before she forced another smile and shrugged as if it were no big deal, "I've had a lot of my old stuff shipped back home to Dad's place. I only carry a few outfits with me at the moment."

Jack was a little confused but she changed the subject before he could question it.

"So, have you made any reservations on where to eat? Or are we going to see what we can find?" she asked, smiling brightly up at him.

"Um," he frowned but answered after a moment, "I thought I would let you decide where you wanted to go since I don't really mind where we eat."

"Well, that was sweet of you," she pulled out her cell phone from hidden pockets in her purple skirt and began tapping in to the device, "What about… here?" She held up her touch screen to his face showing him a google search page of a restaurant in town, "It's a buffet style dining experience so we can try all different dishes and eat as much as we want for a set price. Sounds like a win-win to me. How about it?"

"Sure," he replied with a shrug.

The woman clicked into the phone a few more times, "I'll reserve it for seven. Or is that too late? Should I book it earlier?"

"Seven is fine," Jack shrugged once more and added, "In all honesty I'm just happy for the company."

He cringed the moment the words left his mouth. He hated how pathetic he sounded! ...But then she replied, "Me too."

She pocketed her device and they smiled at each other. An awkward silence passed until Kimiko jumped and chirped, "Hey, do you still have your old console and a copy of Goo Zombies II? I'm pretty sure I owe you a game."


Although the young Heylin man didn't remember any kind of promise or deal being made as a kid, he was just happy for the pair of them to have something fun and enjoyable to do together. After a few rounds of which Kimiko beat him multiple times, Jack sigh heavily throwing his controller down beside him as his player character got eaten once more by Kimiko's Zombie character. She laughed and he sighed deeply albeit he still had a smile on his face.

"I thought you said you were good at this game?" the young woman smirked.

Jack barked out a laugh, "Though I don't recall, I didn't realise I was facing a pro. I bet you got Goo Zombies V before it even came out."

Kimiko shrugged, placing her controller down on the coffee table in front of them. She leaned back on the sofa, "Not really. I kind of grew out of the Goo games a while ago. This is the first time I've played in years."

"I'm sorry?" Jack replied incredulously, "You're joking!"

"Nope, maybe you're just bad at playing," the young woman sniggered quickly and chuckled when he made a mock shocked face.

The former evil genius rose to standing as he spoke, "Well I was going to offer you a drink but I'm not so sure I want to now."

"Oh no, I'm sorry," Kimiko cried though she still giggled.

He smiled at her warmly, happy for how easy it was to chat and joke with her and asked, "What would you like?"

"What do you have to offer?" the woman rebounded and the way she tilted her head and smirked up at him through her lashes made his heart skip a beat. No! This is platonic! Only platonic!

"Err," averting his eyes to the floor, Jack scratched the back of his head while he thought through some options, "We have water, orange juice, soda-"

"Do you have any wine?" the young woman asked and when he glanced over to her she was picking at a loose thread around her sleeve, avoiding his eyes. He frowned. After he didn't answer her straight away, Kimiko glanced up and returned the frown, "What?"

The young man hesitated and pursed his lips for a moment before sighing, "Is that a good idea?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, considering… how you-" she cut him off abruptly.

"I'm not going to lose all sense after one glass of wine! Christ, Jack!" Kimiko rolled her eyes.

"Well, what am I supposed to think after last night?" Jack shrugged, speaking before thinking it through.

"I wasn't drunk, if that's what you're insinuating! I was clear of mind, I'll have you know!" the woman snapped back and then huffed, "I'm just… I'm just nervous, okay?"

"You're nervous?! How do you think I feel?" Jack snorted and it may have sounded like a laugh but it didn't continue or carry the usual jingle. The Xiaolin warrior pursed her lips and fidgeted with her fingers. Her eyes glanced to the door and Jack suddenly panicked that she would try to run away again like the night before, "Look, I'm sorry. Please don't leave."

Her eyes snapped to his, her brows turning upwards, "I'm not going to. Why-" she paused and realised, "Oh. Um, sorry." She sighed, "If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll just have some water."

The young man scratched the back of his head and sighed deeply, "Now I feel manipulative. We have white or rose. Which would you prefer?"

"No, it's fine. Really."

"It's just one glass, right?" Jack offered her an uncertain smile.

Kimiko stared back and after a moment she gave a faint smile in return, "Rose please. Thank you."

"Welcome. I'll be right back." Jack tried to offer the most genuinely friendly smile he could muster, all before he fled out of the room before his heart decided to burst from the apparent continuation of this emotional rollercoaster.

She was nervous. She was nervous. Why? She was beautiful. She was kind. She was good. And then here he was. He was dull. He was selfish. He was evil… or he was once. What reason did she have to be nervous? She had such a network of people around her so it wasn't as if she felt the same way he did. Like he needed her in his life. He needed someone. But not just anyone! Someone from his past. Someone who knew him at one time in his life and who seemingly wanted to still know him now. He had been wandering alone for so long he yearned for friendship and due to the hiccup yesterday - maybe even without that - he was terrified he was going to mess it all up somehow and be utterly alone again.

So then why was she nervous?! As a matter of fact… Why did she want to hang out with him anyway? Out of all the people she knew and all of the people she could easily meet and hang out with, why did she choose to catch up with him? The man who, as a teen, picked on her? Fought with her? Put her in a cage that one time?! Was it for a similar reason; because he knew her?

More and more questions plagued his mind as he poured a glass of wine for his guest and - after thinking 'ah, what the hell' - opened a beer for himself. Maybe it would come up in conversation later today or further day the line if he didn't fuck this up. Either way, he tried to push it to the corner of his mind as he made his way back to the lounge in the west side of the manor.

He walked into the room and Kimiko was scowling at her the mobile screen in her hands. She was tapping quickly into the keypad the beeping of rapidly typed letters sounding one after the other. She heard him come in and she moved to sit up as he approached but she was still frowning at the device.

"Everything okay?" the young man asked as he handed her the glass of wine and came to sit back down on the couch.

She took the glass giving a quiet thank you as she did. But she still tapped one handed into the mobile with a deep sigh. The woman spoke slowly, still clearly engrossed in whatever was happening on screen, "Yeah just…" She hit one final button and then locked the screen and through the device on to the couch behind her. Rolling her eyes she grumbled, "Just people being nosy."

"Nosy?" Jack repeated as the pair of them sipped their respective drinks. Jack was hunched over his forearms resting on his knees, while Kimiko was now lounging back on the sofa with her legs folded underneath herself.

"Yeah, asking me where I am. If I'm safe. Blah! Blah! Blah!" Kimiko muttered, throwing a humorous wide-eyed expression at the glass in her hands.

"Safe because… of me?" Jack asked slowly with concern. I mean, he's not had any evil note-worthy action for years… he's done nothing note-worthy for years.

"Because of you? Oh, no," Kimiko chuckled and smirked up at him again like she did before and he had to faintly laugh back to hide the flutter in his chest that it caused. "Should I be concerned about you, evil genius?"

"Ah, ha. No. I… I don't have any schemes in the works right now," the young man cleared his throat before taking a deeper swig of the beer.

"Right now? So you will in the future?" Kimiko asked and lifted her glass as if to hide her smile behind it. It had little to no effect in the matter.

Jack sniggered and shook his head. He shifted to a more comfortable position and allowed his tight and stiff posture to relax a little into the couch cushions behind him, bringing one leg over the other, "So who was it? Why would you be unsafe?"

Her lips twitched for a split second and if you had blinked you would have missed it. The young man's brows dipped in confusion but before he could ask Kimiko continued her cheery, flirtatious tone, "And whose being nosy now?"

Her mobile beeped behind her and her eyes averted to her lap but she didn't move to check the update. "Aren't you gonna get that?"

"I don't… want to," Kimiko confessed and let her lips slide slowly into a neutral line. After a moment of being lost in thought and Jack being too on edge to push for answers to more and more questions, the woman waved her hand in the air dismissively and forced out a chuckle, "It's probably just more overbearing questions. Y'know. 'Who are you with?'. 'Please call me' even though I literally spoke to them yesterday."

They stared at each other for a moment. Jack's brow furrowed in utter confusion while he tried to connect the dots to things that were said and how she was acting. All the while Kimiko smiled back at him trying to hide the way her own brows were turned up like she was about to break.

"Kim-"

"Hey, can I use the restroom?" she interrupted already jumping up and placing her glass down on the coffee table.

The man made no move to hide his deep sigh but nodded, "Yeah, there's one down the hall and to the left. First door."

"Thanks," she sent another honey sweet smile and turned, scooping up her phone as she went leaving the boy to sit and simmer in confusion. As if that wasn't enough she took her time.

Honestly he tried to sit tight and give her the space she seemed to need but she was taking so long that he began to panic that she had left under the guise that she needed to use the bathroom. He tried to tell himself he was being ridiculous but nothing seemed to work and he found himself walking towards the restroom he had directed her to.

The young man lifted his fist to knock on the wood of the door but stopped hearing her voice from inside.

"That's rich! You can't say one thing one day and then another the next!" She snapped from inside and Jack narrowed his eyes at the wood. Was she on the phone?

"Clearly! Look, I don't care what you say, I'm not gonna-!" Pause. "No! Just stop calling me and messaging me! I'm trying to have a nice day with a friend and you're getting in the way! … Yes, a friend! … It doesn't matter! No- it doesn't - no, I don't- Fine! Yes! Yes, you know him! God damn it, Rai! I don't want to talk with you anymore either put Clay on or I'm hanging up!"

Another pause as Jack felt that surge of jealousy stir up again, "Stop letting him call me! I don't want to talk to him… I can't tell you that… because I know you'll tell him and I need space of which he won't give me! Yes, I'm safe… Yes, I'm fine… Clay, I… Okay… Yeah… Okay, I will. Just make sure he's not around when I call. I can't… Thanks, buddy. Okay… Okay, catch ya later, buddy. Love you. Ja ne."

It fell silent and Jack wondered if he should make himself known or run away to pretend he was none the wiser. But before a decision could be made, fate seemed to think 'why wait?' and the door opened.

The woman jumped and her red eyes widened as she looked up at the clearly guilty face Jack wore. He shook his head trying to think of something to say while looking at her with apologetic eyes but she beat him to it, "You heard it all, didn't you?"

"Enough to know something's up," he finally offered. The man sighed deeply, "What's going on, Kim?"

The woman winced and averted her eyes. A stray tear fell and she quickly swiped at it.

"You're not at the temple, are you?" he asked her, "That's why you had things taken back home."

She was biting her lip probably to stop it from trembling. That didn't stop her eyes from betraying her however as the tears began to gather and, from the looks of it, they hadn't long stopped. She weakly nodded and then stuttered with a forced humourless laugh, "Why can't we just hang out?"

"We can, I just… Kim, you gotta help me out here," he ran a hand through his own hair as he explained, "I haven't seen or heard from you in years and then you turn up out of the blue and… Clearly something's happened and if you're not comfortable talking about it, then I don't want to pry. But one thing I can't understand… is look at me," he gestured to himself drawing his arm from bottom to top as he continued his point, "I'm not the most attractive person out there! I'm quite clearly not in a good place in my life right now. I look sick. So I know it's not because you're attracted to me!" he rolled his eyes at the thought, though it hurt a little to admit, "And if we look back at our history, we were never close - never!" He held his hands up in surrender adding quickly, "That's not to say that it's the same now! I want more than anything to rekindle a relationship with you but of course on better terms not 'enemies'. I just… why did you try to sleep with me last night?"

The woman winced and averted her eyes, angling her head in what looked like shame. After a brief moment of consideration, "I don't know… I… It was a spur of the moment thing. I guess, I didn't think about it. Which is so dumb! I'm so dumb! I'm sorry!" She brought her hands to her face and a sob escaped her.

At a loss for what he was supposed to do or how he was even meant to feel, he decided on comforting her first and encircled his arms around her shaking shoulders. "Just because we make silly decisions does not make us silly people. I mean, look at me! All the stupid things I've done and I'm still a genius!"

The very gentle joke did earn a few sniggers from the broken girl and she sniffled as she put her arms around his waist and squeezed. "I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Don't worry about it," Jack sighed leaning his cheek on the side of her head as he held her, "Just help me to understand. I'm happy to assist you, if you need any help at all. Like I said, I'd like for us to be friends."

The young Xiaolin woman nodded her head against his shoulder, "Me too." She sniffled and then inhaled deeply. She lifted her head to meet his gaze, "Okay, you want to catch up? I'll tell you everything."

"You don't have to tell me everything," Jack offered because she honestly looked so fragile in that moment.

She shook her head, "No, it's fine. Just… Just promise not to think badly of me, okay?"

"Sure," Jack nodded after a moment of consideration. How could he think badly of her? Her?

They relocated back to the lounge and the woman seemed to sit closer this time, her folded legs resting against the side of his thigh. Jack put it down to her needing the comfort right now and thought nothing more of it. Kimiko began explaining the happenings of the past nine years since they had parted ways and the Xiaolin/Heylin war had ended. All the while Jack listened intently, giving her his full undivided attention.


I can only improve upon what I am told.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings.

Linx