“I mean, I haven’t had a Friday night date in forever!” Kat said to Remy and Cameron who were sitting on the couch, watching their friend pace back and forth and recount her conversation with Lindsey.  “I don’t even know if I remember how to date!” 

“It’s like going out with friends, only more kissing and more one on one time,” Cameron said helpfully.  Kat had coaxed her into coming back to their place after work again, with the promise of an apology and an explanation. 

Remy repressed a grimace at that comment as her stomach churned.  She was definitely not thrilled about this.  She really hadn’t thought that Kat would say yes to a date.  Remy felt Cameron put a hand on hers and squeeze.  Clearly her discomfort wasn’t going unnoticed by everyone.  Remy tried to put on a smile.  Like Cameron had said, if she wanted to keep the friendship with Kat, she needed to not act so jealous of Lindsey.  “Well, then it’s about time you had a date.  You should go out.  Have fun,” Remy managed, though her heart wasn’t in it. 

Kat groaned and slumped down in a chair.  “Yeah.  I guess…but it’s so…I don’t know.  I mean the last person I kissed someone…I mean really kissed them was…well, too long ago.  Dating’s just so…stressful.” 

Cameron shot Remy a sympathetic smile before turning back to Kat.  “It could be fun.  Just relax.  She called it a preliminary date, right?  So no pressure.  You’re just going out to see if maybe you could like each other enough to try a real date,” Cameron pointed out.  “Besides, there’ll probably be less kisses…maybe even none…So you don’t have to worry about that.”  Cameron half threw that in for Remy’s benefit, half to attempt to ease Kat’s apparent discomfort at the idea. 

Kat looked at her two friends, Cameron and then Remy.  Her eyes lingered on Remy.  She was clearly hiding something, but Kat couldn’t figure out what.  Remy glanced up at her and Kat caught her breath for a second.  She’d forgotten what a look into Remy’s eyes could do to her in the drama of the day.  Well maybe this will be a good thing then.  Maybe it’ll help you get over whatever it is about Remy that makes you feel this way when she looks at you like that, because it is not a very roommate-y way to feel.  “You’re right.  Maybe it won’t be so bad.  I should just relax.” 

“Yes.  Relaxing sounds like a very good idea,” Cameron encouraged.  Both of you. She added silently. 

“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go lay down,” Remy announced standing up.  “I’ve got a headache,” she added by way of explanation.  The truth was that she didn’t really want to sit there and listen to Kat talk about her date for one more second. 

“Oh.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t know.  Sure.  Feel better!” Kat called after her.  She looked back at Cameron.  “Is she ok?” 

Cameron shrugged.  “Yeah.  She’s fine,” she lied. 

“Ok,” Kat replied uncertainly.  “Maybe I should take her some ibuprofen or something.” 

“You know what?  You’re stressed enough.  Why don’t you sit here and relax a little.  I’ll get her the ibuprofen and something to take it with,” Cameron offered.  “Just, tell me where it is.” 

“Bathroom cabinet,” Kat said, closing her eyes in thought as Cameron wondered away. 

Cameron got a glass of water from the kitchen and, to keep up her excuse, got the bottle of ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet before heading to Remy’s room.  She knocked lightly.  When Remy didn’t respond she opened the door and walked in. 

“Hey!” Remy said defensivevly. 

“I did knock,” Cameron pointed out. 

“And I didn’t reply,” Remy replied.  “Indicating I wanted to be alone.” 

Cameron ignored her and set the glass of water and the ibuprofen on her bedside table before taking a seat on the bed next to where Remy was lying.  “Want to talk about it?” 

“No.  That goes with the whole ‘wanting to be alone’ thing.”

“It’s not even a real date.  It’s like before a real date,” Cameron tried to sooth her friend. 

“Doesn’t mean it’s not going to turn into a real date,” Remy scowled. 

“Doesn’t mean it is either,” Cameron argued.  “Remy…I don’t think she really wants to date Lindsey.  I think the whole thing caught her off guard.  I don’t think Lindsey’s her type.” 

“What?  Cute and smart and interested in emergency medicine?  What is her type then?”

Cameron shrugged.  She didn’t know why, but something in the look that Kat had given Remy out there had made her suspect that maybe the feelings between them didn’t only run one way.  “I don’t know.  I just don’t think it’s Lindsey.” 

Remy didn’t want to get her hopes up.  “Maybe this is for the best though.” 

“Why do you say that?” Cameron asked in surprise. 

“Maybe seeing her with someone else will help me get over liking her,” Remy suggested. 

Cameron shook her head.  “I don’t think so.  I think…”

“What?” Remy prompted when Cameron didn’t continue. 

“I just don’t think it will,” Cameron replied. 

“Well…I guess we’ll see.”  

“Remy, please help me?” Kat pleaded.  She’d continuously become more and more of a nervous wreck as the day had progressed.  “Lindsey’s going to pick me up in an hour and I still have no idea what I’m going to wear!” 

Remy sighed.  Kat was giving her puppy dog eyes.  How was she supposed to resist?  “Fine.”  Remy let Kat grab her hand and drag her to her bedroom.  Remy flopped down on Kat’s bed and looked expectantly at Kat. 

“Ok, so I’ve tried on a couple of outfits, but I just…I dunno,” Kat looked hopelessly at Remy.  “Just let me try a couple of things on for you and tell me what you think?” 

Remy nodded.  “Sure.”  She was trying to be supportive, but it wasn’t easy.  As far as Remy was concerned, Kat was far too nervous for this “preliminary date”. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Kat said appreciatively. 

As Kat tugged off her shirt to change, Remy’s breath caught in her throat.  She felt a tingle run through her.  She told herself to avert her eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.  Kat was just so hot.  Talk about a perfect figure, Remy thought to herself.  As Kat pulled on a new shirt, Remy found herself feeling disappointed, both that Kat was once again fully clothed and that she wasn’t putting all this effort together for a date with Remy herself.  The new shirt was hunter green and the green in Kat’s eyes as well as the red tints in her hair were accentuated.  On top of that, the shirt clung in all the right places.

“Wow,” Remy breathed despite herself.  She didn’t really want Kat to look that good on her date with Lindsey, but she’d been able to stop the compliment. 

“You think?” Kat asked.  “I wouldn’t wear it with these pants, obviously.  I was thinking these black ones.”  Kat pulled a pair of black slacks off of the bed that Remy remembered from a previous outing hugged Kat in an extremely flattering way, accentuating just enough the curves of her butt. 

Remy groaned internally.  Kat was going to look ridiculously hot.  There would be nothing to stop Lindsey crush from turning into full-blown desire.  You want to stay friends! Remy reminded herself.  “You’re going to look fantastic.” 

“You’re not just saying that?  Is it too dressy do you think?  I have this other top I was going to try on for you…”

Remy was torn.  On the one hand, she knew that Kat looked ridiculously good in the shirt she was wearing.  On the other hand, Remy didn’t want Kat to look ridiculously good, and if she was going to try on another shirt, then she would take off the one that she was currently wearing.  “Go ahead and try the other one on,” she said, resenting herself for her selfishness. 

Kat took off the green shirt, tossing it on the bed besides Remy, and pulled a light blue T-shirt out of her drawer.  Once again Remy enjoyed her view.  She felt her heart rate speed up. 

“It’s a little less formal, but…” Kat trailed off, as she tugged the second shirt over her head. 

“That looks good too.  Maybe less formal is better…Less pressure,” Remy suggested hopefully. 

Kat eyed Remy for a second.  She could tell that Remy thought that the first shirt looked better, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to put it back on for her date with Lindsey.  “Yeah.  You’re probably right.  I’ll go with this.  And maybe…” Kat pulled a pair of tight jeans out of her drawer.  “These?”

“You’ll look very hot,” Remy said honestly.  Just not as hot as you would have in the other outfit. She added in her head. 

“Thank you for your help!” Kat smiled at Remy and Remy once again felt her heart flutter. 

“Yeah…No problem.”  She stood up, reluctant to leave, but recognizing that she needed to.  “Stop by before you head out and say goodbye, ok?”

“Definitely!  Who else would quell my anxieties about how I look once I’m all dressed?” Kat replied lightly. 

Remy smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it.  “You always look great,” she retorted honestly as she walked out of the room. 

Kat rolled her eyes.  “Yeah, whatever.  I’ll see you in few,” Kat called after her. 

“Are you…having fun?” Lindsey asked nervously.  The conversation had been awkward.  It seemed harder than it should have been, intensified by the nervousness of both parties. 

“Yeah,” Kat smiled, trying to be reassuring.  In truth, she was finding the whole experience rather nerve racking.  It wasn’t that Lindsey wasn’t nice, she seemed to be great.  It was just that somehow Kat couldn’t get past the fact that maybe she’d only felt a flutter the other day on the roof because she’d been excited at the prospect of being liked, not necessarily because she was liked by Lindsey specifically.  The food had certainly been a welcome distraction from the awkward attempts at conversation. 

“So, how’s living with Dr. Hadley?” Lindsey asked, trying to get the conversation flowing.  Despite all of the rumors that she’d heard about the young doctor, she had yet to have heard that she’d moved in with Kat. 

“Remy?  It’s great!  Remy’s so much fun.  I was worried that after Jenny, that’s my old roommate, left, that I’d miss her a ton and wouldn’t really have any friends in the area, but then I met Remy, and well…She’s just been great.  She really takes my mind off of the fact that Jenny’s gone, and she seems to do it effortlessly,” Kat explained, surprised by how easy she found talking about Remy.  The words practically flowed out of her before she had time to think about them. 

Lindsey noticed too.  She wasn’t blind.  She saw the way that Kat’s eyes had lit up at the mere mention of the name of the other doctor.  Well, she could take a hint.  Besides, she had kind of sprung this date on Kat.  And Kat was nice, why would she say no.  Clearly her affections lay elsewhere, though.  She felt her stomach turn over.  The more she thought about it, the more she could see the two of them together.  From the little she knew about them, they’d probably be a pretty good fit.  “She seems really nice,” Lindsey finally ventured. 

The two turned their attention back to their food, Kat sensing the change in the atmosphere between the two of them. 

“Are you having fun?” Kat asked after a few minutes. 

Lindsey nodded.  “Yeah.  It’s just…”

“What?” Kat prodded. 

“Well, I kinda get the impression that you’d rather be here with someone else.”

This caught Kat off guard.  She hadn’t really been thinking that it would be better to be out with someone else, but...Well, now that Lindsey mentioned it, she’d spent a lot of the “date” thinking about someone else.  That had been why it’d been so easy to talk about her once she was brought up.  Kat didn’t want to admit it though.  For starters she didn’t want to hurt Lindsey, but also she knew that she shouldn’t be thinking about Remy.  “No.” 

Lindsey raised a skeptical eyebrow.  “It’s ok.  I don’t mind.”

Despite her words, Lindsey’s disappointment was evident. 

“I’m really sorry,” Kat said automatically.  “I didn’t think…I didn’t mean to…I really shouldn’t even like her…I didn’t think I did.  Not really.”

Lindsey looked back up at Kat surprised by her words.  Clearly the woman sitting across from her had not set out to hurt her.  “You didn’t know that you liked her?” she asked skeptically. 

“I shouldn’t like her,” Kat replied. 

“But…Why not?  Is she seeing someone?” Curiosity was definitely helping Lindsey get over her disappointment. 

“No, but…She’s my housemate.  And my colleague.  And I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like me.  Besides, it’s just too complicated,” Kat tried to explain.  “Look, I’m really sorry.  I shouldn’t still be talking about her.  Let’s just get back to getting to know each other.”

“But we’re agreed, this isn’t a date,” it was half statement and half question. 

“Yeah, but…Look I know this probably didn’t go as you planned, but I’d still like to be your friend.  And, if you’re still interested in emergency medicine, I don’t want to put a damper on that either.  I’m still definitely willing to have you shadow me or help you out however you need.” 

Lindsey smiled.  “Thanks.  I am serious…about the medicine that is.  It did happen to be a convenient cover the other day, but I really am interested in it.  I was before I met you.” 

Kat smiled again.  She found herself relaxing now that some of the pressure was off. 

The conversation began to flow more easily then and the rest of the evening passed fairly quickly.  Kat couldn’t help but think that Lindsey was taking it better than she would have if the shoe were on the other foot.  When Lindsey finally dropped Kat off at home later that night, Kat gave her a big hug.  “Thanks, for being so understanding.  You’re really great.” 

“No problem.  It’s not my first rejection.  I’ve also been on the receiving end of romantic attention when I liked someone else.  I understand,” Lindsey replied. 

“Still…I appreciate it,” Kat smiled at her.

“Yeah…Oh, and don’t worry.  I won’t tell her, or anyone else at the hospital.” 

“Thanks,” Kat once again appreciated the maturity that Lindsey was showing.  Maybe she hadn’t gotten a new girlfriend tonight, but she was fairly certain that she’d made a new friend.