Plot: Sequel to Blood is Thicker than Water and takes place 6 months after it. Jack realizes he has feelings for Karen, but what he will do about them is the most difficult decision he will face.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Will & Grace" or it's characters. The chapter title comes from the song with the same name by U2 which I don't own either.

Part 5: Beautiful Day

Karen was lying on her side in her bed, her mind whirling with thoughts. 'I have just had sex with my best friend who also happens to be gay,' was the one thought that was prevalent in her mind. But that wasn't bothering her too much. What was bothering her was the question of what she and Jack were going to do next. She loved him dearly, and she wanted to be with him again after tonight.

'What if he decides that this was just a one night stand,' a nasty voice said in the back of her mind. 'What will you do then? Cry every night because he's not holding you in his arms like he is now?' Karen shut her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the voice and trying to keep from crying, because she knew that the voice was right about one thing. She would cry without Jack to hold her at night. The more she thought about being alone in the huge bed every night from now on was too much for her, and her body shook as she cried silently.

Jack yawned and opened his eyes; he wasn't surprised at the fact that he was holding Karen. And he definitely wasn't surprised that both he and Karen were naked. What did surprise him, was that Karen was crying. "Kare?" he whispered into her ear softly.

Karen turned over and looked at him with a melancholic look on her face, tears running down her cheeks.

Brushing the tears off her face with his hand, Jack kissed her deeply, pulling her close to him. He knew why she was crying, and he wanted to delay the inevitable fact that he was going to have to re-think his sexuality later on in the day.

They eventually made love again, trying to forget that with the coming dawn, they would have to separate for a while.

Pulling on her dark blue robe, Karen waited for Jack to get out of the shower so they could talk.

It was six o'clock and Jack wanted to leave before Will or Grace might go to his apartment and find him missing. Or come to the penthouse to find him here wearing the same clothes he had worn the night before.

Karen was looking out the window and out at the sunrise when she felt two arms come around her from behind. She sighed and leaned back against Jack, feeling him rest his chin on the top of her head.

"It's going to be a beautiful day," Jack whispered.

"What now Jackie?" Karen asked after hesitating for a few moments.

Jack sighed and said, "I guess I'm going to need some time to think about how this affects my being gay."

"What if you decide you're still gay?" Karen whispered, pain evident in her voice.

"I don't think I will," Jack answered. "But I just need to think about whether or not I'm ready to try and start a relationship with you. That is, if you want to date me of course."

Karen laughed softly and said, "You know you don't have to ask." She turned around and put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Don't take too long to think, okay Jack?"

"I'll try to do it as fast as I can," Jack said.

"Can you do me a favor before you go?" Karen asked when they had let go of each other.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Kiss me one more time," Karen said.

It only took Jack a few seconds to close the space between him and Karen and he kissed her deeply. When they pulled back, he held her to him, not wanting to let go. After a few moments, he sighed and said, "I guess I should go."

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Karen said.

Jack kissed her forehead quickly and then turned to leave the room. He got to the door when Karen called out to him.

"I love you Jack," she said when he had turned around.

"Love you too Karen," Jack said. Karen blew him a kiss and he winked at her before leaving.

Karen walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She never had felt so alone in the penthouse as she did now. She looked out the window, watching the sun rise further and then sighed. 'There's nothing I can do but wait to see what Jack decides,' she thought. 'And until then I'll have to act like nothing has changed.' She then decided to start her Christmas shopping later on that day, to try and get her mind off of what would happen to her if Jack decided that he didn't want to have a relationship with her.

Katherine was having a dream about her home. In this dream she and her brother Robert (known as Bobby by the family) were playing in the snow one Christmas Eve day. All of a sudden, her brother started throwing snowballs at her. And even though the snow under their feet was hard, the snowballs felt soft. "Cut it out Bobby!" she cried.

"Hey Kat, it's me. Wake up!" another voice said.

Opening her eyes, Katherine looked around her room and saw that Jack was standing at the foot of her bed. "Jack, what the bloody hell are you doing here? It's... six thirty in the morning!" she cried, sitting up and looking at her clock.

"I just wanted to let you know that every thing went perfectly last night," Jack said.

Katherine then noticed that Jack was still wearing his suit pants and coat and white shirt, all of which were wrinkled. "I told you she felt the same way," she said, yawning. "Come on and I'll make us some tea." She got of bed and pulled on her silk robe over her pajamas.

"Why not coffee?" Jack asked, following her into the kitchen.

"Because I'd prefer to sleep for a bit longer after you leave," Katherine said, filling a tea kettle with water and then putting it on the stove. "Speaking of which, why aren't you still with Karen?"

The smiled that had been on Jack's face, suddenly disappeared and he said, "I told her I needed to think if I was ready to start a relationship with her or not."

Katherine nodded and said, "Good idea Jack, because you don't want to rush yourself after being gay for so long." She paused for a long moment and then looked at Jack. "Well, you don't want to rush yourself into a relationship now. Other things... obviously you both couldn't put off," she said with a knowing smirk.

"Ha-ha Kat," Jack said, a slightly annoyed look on his face. "At least I'm not the one who was having a sex dream about some guy named Bobby."

Katherine laughed and then took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water into two mugs with tea bags in them. "I had a dream about when my brother and I had a snowball fight one Christmas Eve."

"Oh," Jack said.

"So how long do you think you'll take to decide?" Katherine said, sipping her tea.

"The less time, the better," Jack said.

"Then you'd better go and get some sleep so you'll be able to go back to Karen sooner," Katherine said.

They finished their tea in silence after that and then Jack left the apartment, going to his own. Once inside his room, he pulled off his shoes and fell back onto the bed. He thought that he would fall asleep quickly, but memories of the night before kept distracting him. Finally he gave up on sleep and started to think over the idea of having a relationship with Karen.

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