justsmilejeff-blog

[justsmilejeff-blog]

I’m very happy to have gotten the chance to RP with Jeff Sterling (justsmilejeff) over at makeachange-rpg. He was amazing and Abby’s portrayal of him was spot-on. I also absolutely loved getting to discover our wonderfully random and surprising Jeff/Elliott ship when we spontaneously decided to give them a run. Never would have expected this with any other Jeff. You’re the best, Abby. <3

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Fingers playing with the hair by her ear, Jeff chuckled a little bit at her own teasing. "Staying here does have the benefit of not having to let go of you. Always a powerful fact to take into consideration when making these decisions, I've got to say." He explained, giving her a playful grin. "We probably should go inside though," He admitted, flipping his hair out of his eyes. "I don't think your neighbors will appreciate the show." Or maybe they would, but that would be a totally different level of creepy. To be honest, he would have been perfectly fine just sticking around in the hallway making out with his girlfriend. Though, his stuff on the floor and the threat of looming neighbors did weigh on his mind and factor into his decision. Not as much as the thought of taking Harmony inside and catching up with her in ways that were definitely not appropriate in her building's hallway. So it was only with that thought in mind and the promise of the next few days with his girlfriend that motivated him enough to let go of the woman in front of him. Really, looking at her now he wondered how he was supposed to leave her again for work. That look in her eyes, her breathtaking smile and the way she filled his chest with love and warmth, those were really hard to do without. 

Jeff kissed Harmony once more before reluctantly pulling away from her to pick up his things and carry them inside. He knew her apartment fairly well by now, possibly enough to stop tripping over things at night. Even then, little things were always different each time he came back, reminding him that he was always away from her. Sometimes he really hated how time seemed to pass when they weren't together, like time felt longer even as the days whizzed past in a flurry of work and meetings. In comparison to how time seemed move far too quickly when they were together, it was absurd to him. He supposed if anything that just meant he had less time to waste. Comfortably inside with his things set aside and outer jacket shed, he searched out his girlfriend once again. "So," He started, coming up to wrap his arms around her and pull her close once again. "That looks an awful lot like my hoodie, doesn't it?" He asked, his hand moving down her arm and catching her fingers where the sleeve was too long and covering them.

It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face || Jeffmony

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Sounds about right. Don't worry bro, I've got your back! And a million congratulations, my friend!

10 Days.

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Keep calm, the best friend is here to save the day! Tell me what you need and consider it done. Your day will be perfect, I promise. You should be ecstatic, this is mind blowingly awesome.

About a week now.

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Give it about twelve hours and you'll have someone else there to help you do all those crazy last minute things you still need to do. Almost to the big day!

About a week now.

Well, technically eight days, but who’s counting? Oh yeah, I am!

I’m so sooo very close to being Mrs. Hudson, I can taste it. If there wasn’t so much left to do, I don’t think I could wait!

[justsmilejeff-blog]

For a hot moment Jeff was worried if Harmony was even home. He hadn't exactly told her when he'd be here, and she was a busy lady. He knew she had long, exhausting rehearsals pretty much all the time on top of keeping up with auditions and meetings. Show business was rough and busy, and there was a good chance she wasn't even here. The worry gnawed at the back of his mind, and he stared down at his phone waiting for a response about just using the spare key above the door frame or something to that effect. Then he'd probably get a lecture on how she didn't like surprises and how he really should have called. Grand romantic gestures, no matter how well intentioned didn't always work out too well. 

He was still staring down at his phone when the door swung open, spotting tiny feet in front of him. Head shooting up, a massive grin broke out across his face as he laid eyes on his girlfriend. "Yeah, I am." He replied just as simply, because he really couldn't process anything beyond the fact that Harmony was standing in front of him now. And for a moment he just stood there, completely stunned by the sight of her. Even end of the day comfy clothes Harmony was beautiful to him. She was always beautiful to him, inside and out. It was in her smile, the way she lit up with glee and the way she looked at him. He'd travel across the world and back again in a heartbeat if it meant having someone look at him like that.

The next moment Harmony had launched herself into his arms, and quite comically he'd dropped everything in favor of holding onto her for dear life. That was okay, his stuff didn't matter that much to him, not as much as she did right now. Not when he could feel her in his arms again, smell the scent of her shampoo while her curls tickled his nose. This right here was an irreplaceable feeling that he wouldn't trade in for the world. He kissed her back, hand coming up to the back of her head to deepen the kiss. It'd been a while, he was going to savor her as best he could while he was here. When they broke the kiss he was still grinning like a madman, beyond thrilled to be here. "So can I come in now?" He asked, his voice clearly teasing as he made no effort to move from where he stood, refusing to let go of her so soon. 

It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face || Jeffmony

[justsmilejeff-blog]

It's happening dude! How are you feeling?

10 Days.

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Pumpkin Seeds || Sterling Family

October 1, 2020

"Okay, here are all your pumpkin seeds that I've fished out for you." Jeff said, handing over the bowl of seeds he'd separated from the pulp and washed just for his cousin. His family was collecting in Boston to celebrate the christening of Cece's third child, Noémi and Jeff was the godfather, so he had come a few days early to bond with the kids. When he saw that they had not prepared for the great month of October, he had to intervene and correct things immediately.

Cece came up beside him and smiled as she took the bowl. "Thank you for doing this with her." He brushed off her thanks as he often did, but she was a persistent one. "Honestly, it really does mean the world to them when you do this kind of stuff."

"So..." She began, nudging his side when he came back up to the counter. He shot her a curious look wondering what she was up to and having a feeling that he may not like it. He encouraged her to continue anyway. "When are you and Harmony having kids?" That was definitely not where he expected this conversation to go.

He could feel this situation getting real awkward, real fast, but Cece seemed oblivious to it. "I, uh, well..." He was stumbling over his words and struggling to find a way to explain this to her. Part of him wished he had told her so this never would have happened, the other part of him couldn't stand the pity, he got enough from the people who did know. Tina, Santana, Julie, they all looked at him with these sad eyes, he didn't want to add his cousin to that list. "Not sure." That was eloquent, really believable. "Harmony's busy with her career and I am too. Lots of travel." He threw at her, hoping that would be enough to keep her satisfied. It wasn't.

"Yeah, but one day, don't you think you'd love to have a couple Mini-Jeffs running around?" More than she'd ever know. "You'd make an amazing dad." Please stop. "The way you are with the kids, you're a natural." This was worse than torture, he'd voluntarily choose water boarding at this point. "You could always talk to Harmony about it and see what she thinks. Doesn't she want kids?" He needed to find a way out of this conversation.

"I'm perfectly happy being Uncle Jeff." He told her, searching for the easiest truth and flashing her his winning grin. He did in fact love being an uncle. He loved her kids and all the kids his friends had. He loved seeing them regularly and showering them with gifts and fun. It was easy being Uncle Jeff, he whirled in and out of their lives the same way he jumped from coast to coast without batting an eyelash. 

"But could you imagine being dad?" So vividly he could draw you a graphic novel.

There was no way he could continue with this conversation the way it was going. Not with the painful reminder of what happened last spring. And that was without acknowledging that Harmony had been due this month. They had worked hard to move past what had happened, but that didn't mean it still wasn't an incredibly sore topic.

He needed to find an out without being rude to Cece, until then his brain tried to throw out more excuses. "Really nothing I can do about that."

She put on a teasing smile, and he knew she wasn't serious when she quipped, "Unless you knock up Harmony."

"Because that worked out so well last time." Wait, that wasn't an internal monologue, someone had actually said that out loud. Jeff spun around to look at the source of the voice, his sister standing frozen with a look of utter terror on her face, the mug she was washing still held awkwardly in the air.

Julie set down the mug and turned to face her brother, her eyes fifty different shades of apologetic. 

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinki–" "I'm sorry, what do you mea–"

Cece had begun talking at the same time as well, her face covered in confusion. She looked between Julie and Jeff, and her brilliant little mind started connecting the dots and piecing together their conversation. "Wait, Jeff–"

No.

"I'm going to go see if Étienne is ready to take Balto for a walk." He quickly piped up. Actually, he was pretty sure Cece's husband just took the dog out, but it seemed like a viable exit strategy. "We'll be at the park if you need us." He grabbed his jacket and walked out of the kitchen to look for Étienne.

Now cue the panic attack.

[justsmilejeff-blog]

@justsmilejeff: Reasons I know I'm in love with you. 

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@justsmilejeff True, I am pretty precious.

[justsmilejeff-blog]

@justsmilejeff: If I don't instill in her a healthy obsession with Halloween now, who will?

[justsmilejeff-blog]

[justsmilejeff-blog]

It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face || Jeffmony

After flying all over the country it felt like, Jeff finally made it to New York. He’d spent the last few days in Miami meeting with a song writer he was trying to get to work with Dakota. What started off a little rocky started to work out for him last second, and the trip ended up being a success. Unfortunately, he had to cancel his original flight and take a later one out of Florida. Which sucked, because for a while there it looked like he’d have to cancel his plans with Harmony. He couldn’t do that to her, not after he promised he’d be here. So rearranging his schedule he caught the first flight he could get back to the city where he belonged. It was funny to think of it that way. As much as he loved New York he never thought he belonged here. His heart was always on the west coast where it was sunny and warm. But he supposed that things changed; he changed. There was a different place for him to belong.

Stepping out of the taxi, he retrieved his things and made his way into Harmony’s building. It was familiar for him now after the number of times he’d been here over the last year. The frequent flyer miles were insane, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He loved this woman, and he’d travel to the ends of the earth just to get to see her. Not that it was always easy, it exhausted him sometimes and more often than not he felt like he lived half of his life on a plane rather than the ground. But it took effort to make a long distance relationship work, and they were nothing if not hardworking. He just wished that sometimes it didn’t take so much for them just to see each other. It took planning and travel and rearranging schedules across timezones. He sort of missed the ease of having the person your dating right there when you needed them for a hug or a kiss, even in the middle of the night. Not hoping they were still awake and that you weren’t catching them when they were in rehearsal or a meeting or an audition. Sometimes it was a real bit of work just to get to hear her voice on the other end of that line.

None of that mattered to Jeff, though. Not now, not when he was literally at her door, waiting to see her. It didn’t mater because through it all, she was worth it. In times like this, in the small thrill of being at her door, the anticipation growing within him, it didn’t matter how long it’d been since they’d last been together or how hard it was to get here. All that mattered to him was that he’d get to see her again, hold her in his arms, listen to her laugh, be in her company. In times like this all he could do was smile because everything else faded away into white noise and nonsense. Pulling out his phone, he sent his girlfriend one last text before he saw her.

Jeff: Guess who! Open your door!

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Uh, sure? Is that how friendship works? I don't know I don't really save special actions for my best friends, except maybe you. But that's different because I'm in love with you. I guess you should be flattered though. 

That's slightly terrifying, I'll be honest.

You really didn't have to do that, but thank you. I know things got rocky for a while there, but we'll make the distance work. We've made it work for a year, and we'll make it work for more. I'm really happy too. I'll see you soon.

Tahiti was amazing!

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Puppies are adorable, even if they knocked over a fern everyone would forgive them just because they were cute and it's impossible to stay mad at them....Oh, that was your point.

Maybe it's just one of those weird Lina things. Everyone's got their, uh, quirks, right? And yeah, it's lucky you booked the show, but they wouldn't have booked you if you weren't the best for the role. Which in itself proves just how awesome you are. Which you are, by the way. I should know.

Well, don't let anyone know or else it wont be a secret anymore. And now you've got me wondering how many ideas I've had that were secretly yours that I just think are my own. Sneaky, sneaky.

Yeah, really. I've got the flight booked and everything. As soon as I finish business in Miami I'm literally taking the next flight out. Nothing's keeping me from you. As long as I get to see you, even a little, I'll be happy. Though of course I'd appreciate more time, I know you're a busy lady with a busy career. You always have been, but we alway make it work.

Tahiti was amazing!

[justsmilejeff-blog]

To be honest she doesn't like much, and she was really, really fond of that fern. I definitely apologized and everything, but he's still a bit bitter. But yeah, I haven't been taking coffee from him lately...

Is that not normal? I just always assumed it was a girl friends thing. I'm sure the dynamic you two share was really valuable to the casting director. You know, along with the fact that you're a unique talent and they're nothing but lucky to have you.

Exactly, we'll divide and conquer. They'll totally think it was their idea. I don't like the idea of anyone being upset or sad, it's only worse when it's you. I've got a meeting in Miami this weekend, but right after I'm coming up to New York to see you. I miss you like crazy, you have no idea.

Tahiti was amazing!

[justsmilejeff-blog]

Yeah, I still think my boss would have preferred I mowed down the intern and not the fern. I think she'd have also probably preferred if I didn't walk into work like something out of the Walking Dead, but hey at least we've all moved past it! Well except that intern, I think he has it out for me now.

Right, yeah, that makes a bit more sense now. At least now I understand why Lina has to stare at you so intently. Which is really nothing new, she's always staring at you. I don't think it'll be too hard for her to learn your singing and movements. She's your best friend after all. I think that's probably why you two make a killer pair for this. Even I have to admit that.

Now that is a super tempting idea. Maybe we should just talk them into a destination wedding in Tahiti and give us a good excuse to go back. I'm glad you're getting there. I know it hasn't been easy but I know you're trying. I am too, I swear. And of course I do. Why wouldn't I want you to be happy? It's definitely on the top of my list of favorite things in the world. 

Tahiti was amazing!