#this is for leya happy birthday!!

[babyjapril]

[uchu-the-angel]

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone and Happy Birthday BloodyYandere6667 I draw you running on the meadow and funny story I draw this on January 12 I thought your birthday is on January 14 I debuld check and I release your birthday is on February 14 also my brain hurts after I was done with work today and I didn’t draw Cora, Leya, Dark Rabbit, And Me surprising you so I did Gacha Club I hope you love It.

[androgymuse-blog]

Happy Birthday, Steven Grant Rogers!

4th of July, 1918

[jobrookekarev]

Darling, Let's Run

Chapter One of One

Words: 12,001

Summary: Jo and Alex spend their time sneaking out of class and driving around the rural streets of Iowa. Jo’s desperate to get out of their small town and go away to college, but Alex doesn’t have that option.

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.

Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson. 

Characters: Alex Karev, Jo Wilson, Lexie Grey, and Ms. Schmidt.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences, 

Additional Tags: High School AU, AU, First Love, Teenage Relationship, Teen Drama, Car rides, Car Chases, Foster Parents, Foster Care, Fluff, Fluff and Angst.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

AN: Happy very late birthday to Leya. @iamtrebleclefstories I hope you enjoy this!

……………………………………………………………………

Jo Wilson knew of Alex Karev long before she had actually met him. At Grace High School, he and his friends were the most popular people and Alex Karev with his Playboy charm made quite the reputation for himself. Although several of her friends had slept with him, Jo was determined not to make herself his girl of the week. Then he was her biology partner, and he was an ass. They did little more than discuss the current biology project until he stopped her from fighting Kimmy Thompson.  

She bragged about leaving her baby at the hospital and Jo yelled and walked up to her, ready to throw the first punch. Then Alex came out of nowhere, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back. That day she told him what only Lexie knew, that her mom had done the same thing and left her at a fire station. She had been bummed around foster homes and lived in her car until Ms. Schmidt brought her home. Before she knew it, they were friends and then she was in love with him. She knew he loved her back, but it took the worst thunderstorm in Iowa history for them to admit that to each other. Since that night, they’ve been inseparable. Jo always scoffed at everyone who said they met their High School sweetheart, married them, and lived happily ever after until she met Alex. 

One, two, three, four. 

Jo counted the seconds as she sat on the stool in what was usually her favorite class, but today, she couldn't wait to get out. She listened to Ms. Schmidt talk about taxes and financial responsibilities, but being Ms. Schmidt's daughter, she was always talking to Jo about financial responsibility. Jo had heard this lecture when she had practiced it last night. She glanced up at Alex as he was sitting at the table in front of her, and he looked back caught her eye with a smirk. 

“Mr. Karev, please pay attention in my class,” Ms. Schmidt said as she raised her voice, catching their attention as they looked up at her. 

Ms. Schmidt wasn't Alex's big fan. Partly because of his reputation, but mostly because he was dating her daughter. Ms. Schmidt’s eyes glanced over at Jo before she turned down to look at her notes. 

“Sorry, Ms. Schmidt. It's just that I need to go to the bathroom, can I go?” Alex asked over at the clock, but the second he did Jo knew Ms. Schmidt would say no.

They had half an hour left of class and then they were free for the day. However, every single kid in the entire school was thinking the same thing. In Iowa, you could get a license at fourteen and Jo’s had hers since she was 14. With over ¾ of the student body driving either a car or a moped, combined with the little parking lot meant a massive traffic jam that took at least a half-hour to get out of. Alex and Jo had been planning to sneak out early and get the hell out of town before everybody else could. It was something they had gotten away with before, but now that they had home EC instead of P.E. at the end of the day, Ms. Schmidt was adamant about not letting them get out early.

“Of course, Mr. Karev, but if your intention is to try to sneak out of my class with Josephine, then you'll have to try harder than that,” Ms. Schmidt said, giving both of them a look that Jo knew all too well as she shrank back in her chair. “Well, off you go then.”

“I, um don't really have to go as much as I thought I did,” Alex said as he stumbled over his words and refused to meet Ms. Schmidt's eyes.

The rest of the class giggled. Even Lexie, her best friend, who was supposed to be on their side, laughed from the seat next to her. Although she shut up when Jo glared at her. 

“Well, what did you expect? You shouldn't be sneaking out of class,” Lexie said as she leaned in to whisper to her.

Lexie had been Jo's best friend since they had both arrived at Grace High School two years ago. Although Jo was originally from Pennsylvania. When she was 12, her then foster parents moved her and her other foster siblings to Iowa after inheriting their grandfather's house. According to the foster worker, it was illegal, but they didn’t want to ship her all the way back to Pennsylvania. 

Lexie had moved with her family from Washington when her father had gotten a job as a professor at Iowa State College. The two had met on their first week here in high school and had been best friends ever since. There wasn't anything either of them did without the other, except for when it came to their boyfriends. Although Alex and Marcus, Lexi’s boyfriend, were used to double dating. 

“I’m a straight A student and Alex's grades have improved too,” Jo protested, leaning in to whisper back to her while she pretended to take notes.

“Yeah, because you make him study,” Lexie said, smiling as she elbowed Jo. “You're a good influence on him, don't let him be a bad influence on you.” 

“I need my Alex time not to be spent in the parking lot,” Jo whispered back and she couldn't help but pout.

“You can spend time with him after school like I do with my boyfriend,” Lexie whispered as she resumed her note taking. 

“It's not the same, we're so busy studying and doing extracurriculars. Alex and I both have jobs you and your boyfriend don't have,” Jo said with a sigh as she stared at the back of Alex's head, resigning herself to spending time with him in a parking lot jam. 

Until she saw what was in his hands. Alex was playing with his car keys, turning them around before he reached back and held them out to her. From his position, staring straight ahead with his arm back, Ms. Schmidt couldn't see him, and when she turned away to write something on the board, Jo reached forward and grabbed the car keys. Alex glanced back at her and gave her a wink as Jo took a deep breath and decided to pull out all the tricks in the book from her street kid.

Jo glanced over at Lexie to see her rolling her eyes. “Just don't skip school tomorrow. We have a mathlete's meeting and I'm not sitting through another meeting with Jacki unless you're there.” 

“I promise, I’ll be back tomorrow,” Jo whispered back before she slipped the keys into her pocket.

Jo then started to tilt her chair back and forth just once before she forested it to tip over and braced herself as she fell back. Jo was smart, she wanted to be a doctor, so she knew how easily she could break a bone doing this move, which is why she put her hand up and pushed the chair away so her legs wouldn't get tangled up in it. She landed on her ass before she deliberately laid back on the floor. The entire room was silent as all eyes turned to her and Jo pulled out the final thing that would make her fall believable, tears. 

Jo pretended to hold her head as she started to cry. Lexie instantly adopted a look of concern and kneeled down beside her. Alex and Ms. Schmidt ran over to her and Jo continued with her charade, letting out a light sob as she held her head. 

“She bumped her head really hard, Ms. Schmidt. She could have a concussion. I think she should go to the nurse,” Lexie said, playing along with fake concern.

“I'll take her,” Alex said eagerly as he came over to Jo's side, putting an arm around her as she leaned her head against his shoulder. 

“Oh my sweet girl,” Ms. Schmidt said, 

gently rubbing her leg and totally falling for it. “Lexie, can you be a dear and take Josephine to the nurse's office?”

Jo pouted and wiped her eyes as she let Lexie and Alex help her up. Ms. Schmidt wrote them a pass, and Jo held her head as Lexie led her out of the classroom. As soon as the door closed, Jo dropped her act and groaned as Lexie giggled, giving her a light shove. 

“Stop, that fall hurt,” Jo said as she rubbed her butt. 

“It serves you right for faking a fall to getting out of class,” Lexie said as she laughed and gave Jo’s butt a little pat before Jo jumped away from her. 

“Well, it didn't even work anyways,” Jo said, resuming her pout as she crossed her arms and they continued their walk of shame down the hall. 

“Didn't it?” Lexie asked, raising her eyebrow as she paused. “You still have Alex's keys, you could go get his car and bring it around back. I'll go back to class and tell Ms. Schmidt that the nurse said I should take you home. Then I'll make sure Alex goes to the bathroom in about 15 minutes, which will be just enough time for you to bring the car around. And Ms. Schmidt will be none the wiser since she usually doesn't leave till an hour after school and the teachers have a meeting today so she’ll be home late.” 

“See, this is why you’re my best friend,” Jo said with a smile as she reached out to wrap her arms around Lexie in a quick hug before she started to skip down the halls. 

“Just get going,” Lexie called after her with a little wave before Jo took off. 

She knew the halls of the high school like the back of her hand and she easily snuck her way out to the parking lot and jumped into Alex's rusty old 1971 Chevy Chevelle SS. His dad had left it behind when he ran out two years ago and Alex had been working on getting the car fixed. Although the old car took a bit of time to finally turn on. The engine had a few kinks, but it worked and it went fast and that was all Alex cared about. Although, Jo wasn't too fond of the rip in the leather on the passenger seats that cut her leg when she wore shorts. 

Luckily though, it was quiet enough for her to drive around to the back of the school by the shop class that was always loud enough to cover the sound of the engine. Jo put the car in park before she climbed over the console into the passenger seat. She didn't doubt that Lexie would help Alex, but she was sure that Ms. Schmidt wouldn't let him go.

Jo loved Ms. Schmidt, she really did. The older widowed home EC teacher was the only person in the whole world who gave a crap about her. When she found out that Jo was living out a stolen car at 14, she forced her to come home with her. Ms. Schmidt wasn't even a foster parent, but she got licensed just so she could keep Jo. The day Ms. Schmidt officially adopted her was the best day of her life. Ms. Schmidt was the mother she never had, but she was also insanely overprotective and she didn't approve of Jo dating Alex. Although Jo was hoping to change that and Alex had reluctantly agreed to weekly dinners at her place so Ms. Schmidt could see the kind of guy that Alex was. Still, sneaking out of school together didn't really help that, but hopefully, Ms. Schmidt would never find out. 

She bit her lip as she watched the door, again checking the clock on the old radio that barely worked. When she looked back at the door, it opened and Alex smirked as he swaggered over to her. Jo smiled as he got into the front seat and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. She leaned in and pressed her hand against his cheek before she kissed him. She let her lips claim him for a moment, enjoying the feeling of electricity that always flowed between them. 

“Did Ms. Schmidt really let you go?” Jo said as she pulled back from the kiss and Alex took the car out of park as he started to drive out of the schoolyard.

“Well, Lexie came back with a very convincing story about how the nurse said you had a concussion and she was taking you home. So I think she let me go thinking I would take you home and take care of you. I think she's starting to like me,” Alex said as he relaxed, keeping his arm around her shoulders as he drove. 

“I hope so, but you got to stop being a smartass in class. I want her to see you like I do,” Jo said as she settled her head against his shoulder. 

They stared out at the road in front of them as they headed out of town. Iowa City may have been one of the bigger cities in Iowa, but just like all the towns as soon as they got out, it was nothing but fields and farms. The early spring sun had melted most of the snow, and thankfully the heater was working, meaning that Jo didn't miss the fact that she had left her jacket in her locker, especially with Alex's arm around her. They did what they always did. They just drove around, speeding down the roads that crisscrossed like squares, up and down the hills and across the open plains that made up Iowa.

“Still, we can't do this again,” Jo said, picking her head up off her shoulder as she looked up at him.

“Why not, we do this all the time and it's not like our grades are suffering?” Alex said with a shrug as he looked over at her. 

“You're such a bad influence,” Jo said with a laugh and a shake of her head.

“Relax, princess, we're not missing much and I know you could teach that class in your sleep,” Alex said as he glanced over at her with a smirk. 

Jo just turned to stare out at the road before then. The empty fields quickly passed by and she watched the rows of corn stalks where the farmers had left them after the Harvest that fall. 

“I’ll have you back before she gets home and she'll never even notice,” Alex said as he reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “Because unlike me, you're a good kid and you have a parent who cares about you.” 

“I care about you,” Jo said as she leaned over, wrapping her arm around him, and laid her head on his shoulder. “Which is why I care if you skip class too because you need to get good grades so we can both get scholarships and get out of here.”

“I know, and I will, thanks to you,” Alex said, as he stopped at a stop sign and leaned over to kiss her. It wasn't the first time they had talked about this plan, so Jo didn't bother him anymore as she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. 

She could feel the car rumble underneath them and feel the heat from the heater warming her skin. The car smelled like leather and gasoline and Alex smelled like that dollar store deodorant he bought, but she loved it. She could feel Alex’s chest rise and fall and he let her have one of his hands to hold and he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. Of all the places she had ever been, sitting here in the car with Alex was the closest to home she ever got.

Finally, they reach one of their favorite spots. There was a little forested area near one of the abandoned farm houses. Nobody knew who the land belonged to and it was a popular hangout spot among the kids. There were usually a few other kids there, but with school having just gotten out, it was just the two of them. Alex followed the dirt road down to the stream and parked the car where no one would see. Jo reached for the door handle before Alex reached over and caught her arm. She scrunched up her eyebrows and gave him a look as he pulled her back. Alex took a deep breath as he opened the console and pulled out a box. Her eyes went wide, and she put both of her hands over her mouth as her jaw dropped. 

Alex never gave her presents. He completely missed her birthday last year and ran out to the store and bought her flowers and chocolates and a teddy bear. Most girls would have liked that sort of thing, but not Jo. She slammed the door in her face and told him to do better. In Alex's defense, he did do better. He returned the chocolates and the teddy bear and he gave the flowers to Amber. Then he returned with a cupcake and the new album from her favorite band. Since then he had gotten much better at giving her gifts that were meaningful to her. Yet, this tiny little box wrapped in a ribbon was something he had never done before. 

“You better not propose to me, Alex Karev,” Jo said as she dropped her hands over her mouth and glared at him.

“Relax, princess,” Alex said, holding out the box to her again, but he still looked nervous as Jo took it. 

She looked up at him as she pulled at the ribbon. Alex rubbed his hands on his jeans, a telltale sign that he was nervous as he watched her open it. His eyes stared at her hands and glanced up at her face to gauge her reaction, but never willing to meet her eyes. Finally, Jo opened the box to reveal an oval shaped gold locket with an intricate design of little half-shaped circles with a dot in the middle and tiny little flowers that surrounded a red ruby. Jo couldn't help but let her lips part as she gasped and stared at the locket. 

“I know you're not really a jewelry girl, but I just, I thought you might like it,” Alex said, fumbling over his words as she stared at the locket. 

“It's beautiful and I love it,” Jo said with a smile as she looked up at him before she reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

“Good, you should open it too,” Alex said when she pulled back. 

She leaned into him as she took the locket out of the box and opened it. Inside was a little ripped up piece of notepaper carefully folded to fit. Jo smiled, this was the Alex part of the gift that she loved as she opened it and read it. 

‘When you're ready, we'll run,’ was written in Alex's scrawled and messy handwriting and she smiled before she looked back at him. She didn't have to ask him what it meant, they both knew. Having this little promise with her was more meaningful to her than the locket that it came in. 

“Come on. Let me put it on you,” Alex said, holding out his hand for the locket. 

Jo folded the piece of paper and put it back in before she handed it to him and turned around, pulling her hair over her shoulder. Alex fastened to the locket around her neck and it hung low enough for her to see it right near her heart. 

When he was finished, she turned around and put both of her hands on his cheeks as she kissed him. She quickly climbed over the console and the gear shift to sit in his lap as they kissed. This time it was less electric and more soft or at least it started out that way, but the second she climbed into his lap, he pulled his seat back and put his hands on her hips, grounding her against him as he kissed her with more heat. 

Alex pulled back as his lips trailed down her neck and his hands went under her shirt. Jo closed her eyes and moaned as Alex quickly pulled her shirt off. But as Jo opened her eyes she saw something on the road. The sound of the cop car turning on the siren once as a warning was enough to have her jumping into the passenger seat. As soon as she jumped out of his lap, he turned the key in the ignition. Despite the fact that she was 16 and he was 17, they could still get in trouble for having sex in public and technically being somewhere they weren't supposed to be. The cops use any excuse to arrest the kids they found there. 

Alex revved the engine, and Jo had just enough time to click her seat belt before they took off. He headed onto the main road before the cops could even realize what was going on. Although they gave chase, Alex knew these roads and they quickly outran the cop. Jo laughed as she pulled on her t-shirt on again, watching the fields go by before she glanced over at Alex. He glanced over at her, quickly giving her a wink before he held out his hand and she took it, intertwining their fingers. No matter where she went so long as she had Alex to run with, she knew she would be all right.

Give me the keys, I'll bring the car back around

We shouldn't be in this town

And my so-called friends, they don't know

I'd drive away before I let you go

So give me a reason and don't say no, no

There's a chain 'round your throat, piece of paper where I wrote

"I'll wait for you"

There's a key on the chain, there's a picture in a frame

Take it with you

And run, like you'd run from the law

Darling, let's run

Run from it all

We can go where our eyes can take us

Go where no one else is, run

Oo-oo-oo, we'll run

……………………………………………………………………

Jo knew the second that Ms. Schmidt’s car turned onto their street. As a foster kid, she always used to predict when her foster parents got home and some things never change. Especially when she was hanging out with her boyfriend in her room when she wasn't supposed to. Jo instantly got up from where she was laying on the bed with Alex watching TV and went over to the window, picking at the blinds as she looked out onto the street to see Ms. Schmidt approaching the driveway. 

“She's here?” Alex guessed, already getting off the bed as Jo nodded and the two of them ran downstairs.

Jo grabbed an ice pack from the fridge, wrapping it up in a tea towel before Alex met her in the living room, holding the book she was supposed to be reading for English. Jo ran over to the couch as Alex motioned for her to lie down. She put the ice pack on the back of her head as Alex pulled her feed into his lap. Then, he pulled open the book and took out her bookmark as he began reading from the top of the page. By the time Ms. Schmidt walked in the door, the two of them were perfectly arranged on the couch, innocently reading while Jo iced her head. 

“Hello,” Ms. Schmidt called into the house as Jo heard her set her bags down in the mudroom.

“Hello, Ms. Schmidt,” both Alex and Jo called out. 

Ms. Schmidt came into the living room, giving both of them a smile as she rolled up their sleeves on her blouse. “Mr. Karev, what a surprise to see you here.” 

“I just wanted to make sure Jo was all right,” Alex replied, giving her a polite nod before he looked over at her. 

“How are you feeling, dear?” Ms. Schmidt asked as she leaned down to put her hand on Jo’s forehead and kiss her head. 

Jo looked down, playing with the hem of her shirt, avoiding even Alex's eyes as Ms. Schmidt pulled back. After living with Ms. Schmidt for a number of years, she never got used to the motherly affection and sweet nickname she gave her. Jo had always wondered and dreamed about being adopted or her birth mom coming back and taking you away. Now that she had Ms. Schmidt, it filled the hole in the heart and Jo’s longing for a mother. 

“I'm doing better,” Jo said, giving her a light smile as she still held the ice pack to her head.

Ms. Schmidt smiled down at her with a little sparkle in her eyes that told Jo that although she had initially believed her, she now had her doubts. “I was thinking  about a tater tot casserole for dinner. Are you staying, Alexander?” 

“No, I should get going, Amber and Aaron will be home from school by now and I should go make dinner for them,” Alex said, giving Jo’s legs one last pat before he slipped out from under her.

“Well, you and your siblings are welcome to join us anytime,” Ms. Schmidt said, giving him a smile. 

“Thanks,” Alex said, he gave Ms. Schmidt a nod before he looked over at Jo and she beckoned him forward and he leaned down to kiss her goodbye. 

He was always so awkward around Ms. Schmidt and it made her smile. She pulled back after placing a gentle kiss on her lips and looked at Ms. Schmidt giving her a nod before she pulled him in for a hug. She squeezed him for a second as Alex looked at Jo over her shoulder with a surprised look, but Jo smiled. Alex hugged her back a little bit before he gave them both an awkward little wave. Then he left and both of them watched him go. 

“That boy does not get enough hugs,” Ms. Schmidt with a sad little smile before she went to walk back into the kitchen. “Are you up for helping me with dinner, Josephine?” 

“Yes, ma'am,” Jo said, getting up and grabbing her English book as she followed Ms. Schmidt into the kitchen.

……………………………………………………………………

“Our song is a slamming screen doors, sneakin' out late, tapping on your window,” Jo sang at full volume, her head bobbing to the music as she jammed out to her favorite song on the radio. The song that she also claimed was their song.

Alex couldn't help but laugh and hum along. Jo didn't have the prettiest voice in the world, but she looked so happy and carefree as she sang. He let himself laugh. His Dad once told him that he used to laugh in his sleep. Alex didn't laugh like that anymore, but with Jo, he did. 

“Stop laughing at me,” Jo looked over at him and caught him laughing again as she reached over to slap his chest. Although he caught her arm before she could pull away.

“I'm not. I promise,” Alex said as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her palm. “You're just so happy. It just makes me happy too.”

Jo rolled her eyes as she looked back out the window, but he saw the little bit of blush that appeared on her cheeks and it made him smile. She continued to sing to the song as it finished before his eyes went back to the road. It's the middle of summer and hot as hell outside. The old 71 Chevelle didn't have air conditioning, so they've got both the windows rolled down and the air comes flying in, whipping the wind around them. Jo’s tied her hair back into a bun to keep it out of her face. Still, all the little strands catch in her lips as she sings. Summertime means more time together and fewer responsibilities, although they still work part-time. Today is their day off and Alex intends to make the most of it. 

“How's Amber and Aaron doing at their new foster home?” Jo asked, poking his arm to get his attention as he looked over at her.

“They seem to be doing good. The parents are nice, I think and Aaron says they are treated well,” Alex says with a shrug, although he knows all too well that just because things are good at the start doesn't mean it always will be.

Jo nodded, she knew that too. “What about your latest foster parent?”

Alex just shrugged. “I don't know. He works the night shifts so he sleeps a lot during the day, but he gets up in the morning and eats cereal with me and tells me to have a good day.”

“That's not so bad,” Jo said, tilting her head with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess. It won’t matter for long. I’ll be 18 in a few weeks and then I'll just live at my mom's place,” Alex said with a shrug.

It was nice that his foster parent stayed out of his business, but it felt weird to have someone who got up and ate breakfast with him. He'd never had that before and Jo was right it was. It wasn't so bad, in fact, it was kind of nice.

“It'd be better if I could eat cereal with you in the mornings,” Alex said as he took his eyes off the road for a second to glance over at her. 

“As much as I'd love that too, I don’t think Ms. Schmidt would allow it,” Jo giggled as she leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Yeah, if she ever caught us in bed together, she'd skin me alive,” Alex said with a chuckle, although he did generally fear her.

“She'd kill you dead if she knew about the things we did when we're in bed,” Jo said in a low voice as she leaned over to whisper in his ear.

Alex chuckled too before they both laughed. Neither one of them were used to having parents, someone who gave a crap about whether you were out too late, or having sex with your boyfriend, or whether you got breakfast in the morning. They were used to doing what they wanted and figuring things out for themselves, so they weren't used to abiding by their guardians' wishes. As was such on a day like today. Although both of their foster parents knew that they were spending the day together, Jo and Alex didn't exactly give them the details of where they were going. 

“Can we stop somewhere now?” Jo said as she looked out on the fields.

They had been driving around town and the surrounding county roads for a while. They just kept going and passing farms and fields.

“Since when do you complain about us driving around for hours?” Alex said, only teasing her further as he just smiled as he turned towards the river. 

“It's been hours Alex. Most of the time when we’re driving around for a while, we only do it for a couple hours and then stop and mess around somewhere.” Jo complained as she threw her head back against the headrest. 

“Are you 7 or 17?” Alex said with a laugh as Jo slapped his chest again. 

“Alright, alright,” Alex said as he slowed down and turned onto the next Road. “Why don't we go over to the river and we can mess around. 

Jo giggled as they drove down the dirt road to a spot by the river. She leaned over and started kissing his neck, distracting him even more as her hands trailed down his chest to his jeans. 

“Stop, I still have to park,” Alex said, ignoring her teasing hands as he tried to keep his focus on the road.

“Please, you know this road like the back of your hand, you could park here with your eyes closed,” Jo argued back as she pressed her lips to his neck again. 

Alex groaned and rolled his eyes as she continued to distract him. Although he put his foot on the brake and pulled to a stop. Then closed his eyes and let himself enjoy her distractions before the familiar sound of a Sheriff Gardner's police siren went off. Alex's eyes flew open as he looked in the rearview mirror to see him pulling onto the dirt road. 

Alex swore as Jo pulled back as he shifted his foot to the gas and they took off. 

“I swear to God one day he's going to catch us and you and I are going to end up in juvie for indecency and trespassing,” Jo said with a huff as she sat back in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, but you'd make a hot little jailbird,” Alex said, glancing over at her with a smirk as he watched her roll her eyes.

“Shut up,” Jo said, reaching over to smack his arm, but she laughed and the sound filled the car as they drove off again.

So you laugh like a child

And I'll sing like no one cares

No one to be, no one to tell

I could see this view a hundred times

Pale blue sky reflected in your eyes

So give me a reason and don't say no, no

And the note from the locket, you keep it in your pocket

Since I gave it to you

There's a heart on your sleeve

I'll take it when I leave

And hold it for you

And run, like you'd run from the law

Darling, let's run

Run from it all

We can go like they're trying to chase us

Go where no one else is, run

Oo-oo-oo, we'll run

……………………………………………………………………

“Hey,” Jo said, greeting Alex from behind. 

She had wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek. He was sitting at the table in the library after school, working on a stack of documents. Alex smiled, he was the only one who put up with her clinging. 

“How was your mathletes meeting?” Alex asked, turning his head to look at her.

“Good, I think we're ready for state nationals,” Jo said, still hanging onto his neck.

“Nice,” Alex said with a smile leaning in for another kiss.

“What are you working on?” Jo asked, looking at the papers in front of him.

“Oh, just getting a start on all those college applications you keep bugging me about,” Alex said, showing her the forms for various colleges, including Princeton and Udub, where both Jo and Lexie wanted to go. 

“Good,” Jo said with a smile as she sat down next to him. 

She sorted through a few more applications for several schools, all of them out-of-state, some on the east coast, some on the west. A few were for the states nearby, including Mayo up in Minnesota, but the one he was working on was the application Iowa university with for Iowa State next to it. 

“What's this?”

“Well, I just figured it'd be good to have some backups,” Alex said with a shrug as Jo looked over the nearly completed application. 

“Well yeah, but what about New Jersey state university, or a state university somewhere other than here,” Jo said, shaking her head as she leaned over him before noting his serious look. “You aren't really thinking about staying here?”

Alex turned away from her eyes, but she caught his look long enough to read his face. She looked over the applications again and realized that the ones to the school they had agreed on hadn't even been filled out yet.

“Alex.” 

“Look, Jo, it's not that easy,” Alex said, his voice rising as he gestured to applications in front of him. “It's not like I have the grades to get into those places.”

“But I've been helping you,” Jo argued, she always made sure they finished their homework before they did anything else. 

“It's not enough,” Alex yelled again as Jo leaned back a little bit. Alex looked down before he adopted a softer tone, still upset but not yelling. “I lied okay. I'll sit with you and I'll do a couple of problems or work on papers or projects, but you think so fast and school work comes so easy to you. By the time you're done, I'm barely halfway through, but I say that I'm done because I want to hang out with you and I don't want you to think that I'm stupid.”

“I know you're not stupid,” Jo said sinking into the chair next to him.

“No, but I'm not nearly as smart as you and I'm not smart enough to get into these schools. On top of that, I can't just up and go and leave everybody behind. I have Amber, Aaron, and my mom.”

“Amber and Aaron are at St. Savior's. They're being completely taken care of and I thought your mom would be fine on her own. She's on her meds at least, right?” 

“She's not,” Alex said with a sigh, shaking his head. “She's off her meds and she keeps wandering out of the house in the mornings, so I have to get up and go find her. That's why I've been late to school so often. The only reason she's not out now is cuz I lock the door behind me from the outside, but I can't do that while I'm at the house.”

“Alex, if things are that bad with your mom, then maybe you should get her committed,” Jo said, she'd seen how burned out he'd been recently, but she thought it was just senior year. She knew that regardless, trying to take care of Helen was way too much for an 18-year-old.

“No,” Alex said firmly, glaring at her for even bringing it up. 

“Alex, you can't spend your entire life taking care of your mom. You have to live your own life. You want to become a doctor, a good one and you're never going to be able to do that if you go to these second-rate schools and spend your entire free time taking care of your mom. You've got to think about yourself for once!” Jo leaned in to whisper as she argued with him.

“I can't!” Alex argued back, his voice rising again. “They're my family. It's my responsibility to take care of them. You want to get out of here so fast that you don't care who you leave behind. All you think about is yourself. Well, I don't have that luxury, Jo. I'm not going to abandon them for my own selfish ambitions. You just don't know what it's like because you don't have a family.” 

Jo sat back, her lips parted as tears filled her eyes. “You're wrong, I wasn't just going to leave everybody behind. I wasn't just going to abandon Ms. Schmidt, she's an adult, she can take care of herself and we can still have a long distance relationship. I guess you just don't understand that I want to get out of here so bad it hurts. I know what it's like in other places. I grew up in Boston and every part of me wants to go back. I thought, I thought that when I left you would come with me because you're my family, Alex, but I guess I'm not your family. I love you Alex, and I was never going to abandon you, but I guess it's easy for you to abandon me.”

“Jo, I didn't mean it like that. Jo wait,” Alex pleaded with her but she just got up and practically ran out of the library. 

Alex rushed after her for a bit, but she just ran. Jo ran through the school headed for Ms. Schmidt's classroom. Ms. Schmidt had always told her to be careful with Alex, to not plan her life around a boy. To choose her own path in life and to be careful and not get pregnant. Jo had known she was right and she was careful. But he just wanted to stay here close to his family. Jo was determined not to be another one of the girls in their hometown who married their childhood sweetheart, got pregnant, and became a housewife. Although she didn't see anything wrong with that kind of life, she wanted more than just that.

For the first time in her life, she had a good future ahead of her. She wanted to be a doctor, a surgeon, an excellent one. She wanted to go to the top schools and study at the top hospitals. She wanted to be the best she could be and she thought Alex shared that dream. She wanted more than the life that this small town could give her and now she was alone in her ambitions. 

The second she got to Ms. Schmidt's classroom, she stopped. Tears were still streaming down her face, but Jo put her hand over her mouth to stop from crying out. What if Alex was right? By going away to college Jo was giving up the only home that she'd ever known. Ms. Schmidt didn't have anybody. Her son had left long ago and only visited once a year. She was getting older and Jo knew how hard it was for her to do things around the house. If Jo left, she would be all alone. She turned around, putting her back against the lockers, and sank down. She wrapped her arms around her legs and hid her face as she cried. Jo tried to keep her sobs silent, but they echoed in the long hallway and Ms. Schmidt opened the door to find her. 

“Oh Jo, what is it, sweetie?” Ms. Schmidt asked as she bent down next to her and wrapped her arms around her.

Jo picked up her head and looked up at her, wiping her eyes and swallowing the lump in her throat. “If I go away for college, will you hate me for leaving?”

“Oh heavens no, child. What put that idea into your head? I’ve always known that you would leave, that you would spread your wings and fly away to something greater. I knew this even before I adopted you. But I did so because I wanted to give you the love and the family you deserved. I fell in love with you, Josephine Wilson-Schmidt.”

“Really?” Jo asked, still not quite believing her.

“Yes,” Ms. Schmidt said confidently as she slowly got up before offering Jo her hand. Jo got up as Ms. Schmidt put an arm around her shoulder. She let her into her classroom before guiding her into a chair and pulling out a box of tissues. “Now, what brought all this on?”

“Alex,” Jo said as she wiped her face with the tissue and tried to ignore Ms. Schmidt’s sigh. “He doesn't want to go away to college. He wants to go to Iowa University here so he can stay and look after his mom, instead of trying to get into Harvard or Princeton.”

“I think the boy is trying to be realistic and I understand his want to stay near his family,” Miss Schmidt said, offering her another tissue. Jo looked down and scrunched up the tissue in her hand. Of course, Miss Schmidt saw right through her. “Was there something else he said?”

Her tears clouded her vision as she clutched the tissue in her fist, Jo whispered. “He said I didn't get it because I didn't have a family, but I thought I was his family because I made him mine.” 

“Well, I hope you know that's not true because you have me. You will always have me, Josephine,” Ms. Schmidt said as she just gave her a sympathetic smile and wrapped one arm around her. “And someday, when you're a big shot doctor, I hope that you love me enough to call now and then and visit for Christmas.”

“I will, I promise,” Jo said with a nod as she let her tears fall freely again. 

She knew she would always have Ms. Schmidt, despite how Jo knew she would have to leave her to spread her wings. She thought that she would always have Alex and he would always be by her side. They would go through life together, but instead, she now faced her future alone.  

……………………………………………………………………

Alex knew he messed up the second the words left his mouth. He didn't mean it the way he said it. He kind of did, but not really, not like he said it. It's just that Jo didn't have anybody relying on her. She was free to do whatever she wanted, and she had got the grades and the means to do so. Sometimes he envied that luxury. He'd love to be able to fuck off and not have to worry about his mom and his siblings. He knew that Amber and Aaron were doing well at St. Saviour's, the nunnery that ran a boarding school and the home for kids, but he still felt the need to check on them every so often. He made sure they were keeping their grades up, that no one was messing with them, and that they knew someone loved them. 

Still, he meant it when he’d said he wanted to get in his car and drive away and never look back. He had been carrying the weight of his family since he was a kid, even before his dad left. It’s a burden that so heavily weighed upon him that he didn't realize how much until it was taken away. 

It was late on a Wednesday night, as Alex drove up Jo’s street and parked in front of her house. All of the lights were off in the house as it was pretty late. He tried to be quiet as he snuck around the back of the house, avoiding where he knew the window was to Ms. Schmidt's bedroom. He walked around the house to Jo's window, facing the backyard. Then he walked up to the flower bed and picked up a few little rocks before stepping back. He threw a couple of rocks in quick succession at her window before he saw the lights turn on. He waited and threw one more before the curtains part and her window opened.

He knew it wouldn't be easy to apologize this time. Alex knew that he'd hurt her, deeply, with what he had said. He wished he could think things through before he said them, but he'd never been very good at that. He wished it could and he realized now that he really had to try. More importantly, he had to apologize and make it up to her. 

“What?” Jo whisper-yelled in a way that is both silent and deadly as she glared at him. 

“I'm sorry, can we go for a drive and talk?” Alex offered, holding out his arms to her in the hope that she would take him back.

Instead, Jo just glared at him more. “No, it's 11:30 pm on a school night!”

And with that, Jo slammed her window shut and closed the curtains before turning off the light. Alex stood there in surprise, thinking that maybe she would change her mind and come downstairs or open the window again, but he knows better than that. Jo had always been as stubborn as he was and when she made up her mind, that was it. But he wouldn't give up on her, he couldn't. Jo was the one good thing in his life and he wasn't going to give her up just because he said something stupid.

Alex let out a sigh and kicked the grass as he walked back around the front of the house. He glanced up at Ms. Schmidt's window to see that it was still dark and the curtains were still closed, so at least he didn't get caught. The next day at school, he caught her eyes in the hallway and he knew she saw him, but she didn't approach him and she didn't sit next to him at lunch like she usually did. Alex instead ate lunch with the rest of his wrestling buddies, who were pleased to have him without his girlfriend, but it wasn't the same. 

Finally, Saturday rolled around and Alex once again snuck around the side of Jo's house. He picked up a few stones from the flower beds and tossed them at her window. Once again, Jo's light turned on before she opened the window and looked down at him.

“It's not a school night, can we talk now?” Alex pleaded with her.

Yet, Jo just glared and angrily whispered down to him. “No, I'm not going to sneak out just because you can't apologize to me in the daylight like a normal person.”

Once again, she slammed the window shut and Alex sighed again as he stood there in the dark, alone. First, she didn't want to meet with him on a weeknight and now she didn't want to go out with him on the weekend. They used to push the bounds of their curfews, not that Alex had one and Ms. Schmidt had rarely enforced it. Jo was lucky like that. Ms. Schmidt knew that she was a teenager set in her own ways and had been taking care of herself. Still, she had rules in place to make sure that Jo was safe. She had a 1 a.m. curfew on the weekend, but so long as both of them were in the house by sunrise the next morning and told Miss Schmidt where they were, she didn't mind if they stayed out later. Jo was the only person in Alex's life who cared if he got home. She was the only person who gave a damn about him in this world and he couldn't lose her.

Finally, Monday afternoon, Alex waited for her after school. He leaned against his car in the parking lot. He deliberately parked next to Jo that morning and waited for her to come out of school. He spotted Jo coming towards her car with Lexie right beside her. Both of them remained quiet as Jo walked over to her car until finally, they were standing in front of him. Jo looked away from him, but Lexi glared.

“Can I please apologize to you now?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows and trying not to seem as anxious as he was.

“Okay,” Jo said in a neutral tone.

Alex was relieved especially as Jo came over to him. He opened the side door for her and she sat down in his passenger seat. He had never really opened the door for her before. It felt a little chivalrous and weird, but Jo smiled up at him and he smiled back. He closed the door and went to walk around to the driver's side before Lexie blocked his way and put a hand on his chest to stop him. 

“You better really apologize to her because Jo deserves better than all the crap you gave her,” Lexie said, still glaring at him.

“I am going to apologize and I'm gonna make it up to her. I love her, Lexie and I can't lose her,” Alex said, pleading with her and hoping that she would believe him.

Lexie's glare softened as she let her hand drop and stepped aside. Alex was glad that Jo had such a fierce friend who looked out for her like Lexie did. Lexie got into Jo's car and drove off. Alex took a deep breath before getting in the car. Jo immediately stared at him as Alex took a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition. 

“I'm sorry, I was an asshole,” Alex said, staring straight ahead but glancing over at Jo before he started to pull out of the parking spot.

“It's a start, go on,” Jo said in a soft tone as Alex moved into the line that headed out of the parking lot. It was pretty much bumper-to-bumper which gave him time to glance over at her.

“Look, I was wrong to say you don't have a family. You do have a family, Jo, don't let anybody tell you that you don't have a family because you do. You have Ms. Schmidt and you have me. But I also have Amber and Aaron and my mom, even before my dad left. I felt like I was the one who had to be responsible and take care of them. I've sacrificed everything to take care of them, but you're right. I can't sacrifice my entire life anymore and it looks like I won't have to.”

The entire time he spoke, Alex just looked at the car in front of him. So when Jo reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, he looked over at her and he knew she could see the pain in his eyes. 

“Alex, what happened?”

“A week and a half ago, my mom didn't take her meds and wandered into a convenience store. They said she kept mumbling about needing to buy shoes or something and she started pulling things off the shelves and making a mess. So they called the police and when the police got there, she fought them, and they arrested her.”

“Oh God, Alex, I'm so sorry,” Jo said, no matter what, Alex has always tried to keep his mom from getting into trouble and away from the police. So she knew what this meant. “Is she okay now, did they…. Where is she?

“Well, she's actually not in jail, which I guess is something,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “Still, they weren't going to release her. Instead, they sent her to the psychiatric Hospital. It's not the worst in the world, but it's not necessarily the best either. Anyway, I guess because of what she did to the convenience store, the state is going to charge her with something and then I guess that gives her a free ride in the hospital for the next four years. I don't know, but anyway, the hospital is going to take care of her from now on.” 

“Are you okay?” Jo asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm, but Alex just laughed. 

“Yeah, I mean, I’m free. I’m free Jo, for the first time in my entire life I don’t have to worry about my mom or my siblings. I'm 18 now, so all I gotta do is pay the rent and take care of myself and I’ve been doing that for years. I’m free and I can finally do whatever I want!” 

Alex was so relieved. He felt happier and lighter than he had in years. He had never felt like this. Even when they would skip school and drive around town without any care in the world, there was always that lingering knowledge that it was just for a few hours and then the burdens of their lives would come back. Every day the burdens of his life weighed upon him. Now as he looked over at her with a smile, he just felt happy. 

“Alex, that's great!” Jo said, matching his smile as he looked over at her and leaned over the console to quickly press his lips against hers. 

Alex felt that familiar spark of electricity between them as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he got lost in her lips. It was hot and heavy and he felt like the rest of the world faded away as he kissed her. That is until the car behind them honked and they realized they had to move forward. 

Jo giggled as she pulled back and Alex looked over at her with a smirk on his lips that he knew drove her crazy. They finally made it out of the parking lot and Alex headed straight out of town. He looked over and held out his hand for Jo as she interlaced their fingers. For the first time since their fight, it felt like old times again as they drove around. Alex went back to the river, but this time they found a quiet spot overlooking the river as Alex parked the car. 

Instead of staying in the car like he usually did, Alex got out and quickly ran around to her side of the car. He opened the door for her, which was strange as he never did that unless they were going out on a date. Still, Jo took his hand and let him pull her to the front of the car overlooking the river. 

“There's something I have to do. It's a little cheesy, but,” Alex said as he got down on one knee before He pulled a little black box out of his pocket. 

“Oh my God, Alex,” Jo said as she put her hands over her mouth and watched him open the box to reveal a silver band with an intricate design of hearts. 

“Josephine Wilson,” Alex said, looking up at her and holding the box out to her as he started his speech, but Jo quickly cut him off. 

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!”

Alex's smile dropped as he looked up at her in Surprise. “Well, I um.”

“You better not be asking me to marry you, Alexander Karev. I am 17 years old and there's no way I'm getting married until I'm at least 26 and have graduated from med school, and then there's no way I'm letting you knock me up until I'm at least done with my residency, so you better put that went ring away right now or I’ll….”

“Jo, will you just shut up and listen to me for a second,” Alex said, shaking his head as he smiled and Jo shut her mouth. “I’m not trying to propose. This is a promise ring. You think that I don't know that you don't want to get married until after med school, you only tell me like all the time.”

Alex rolled his eyes and Jo scoffed as she reached out and gave his shoulder a shove, but she finally relaxed and let him continue. 

“Jo, I love you. It's always been you and me since the moment we met. My life is supposed to be with you and I want to be your family, so I want to give you this ring as a promise to you that I'm always going to be in your corner. I'm always going to be your family and one day, if you let me, I want to be your husband.”

“I love you too Alex, and I want a big giant career, but I don't want to go anywhere without you. You are my home and you are my heart. I want to be your family too and I want you to be mine.”

Alex smiled as he stood up and pulled her in for a kiss. Jo smiled against his lips as she held him. They pressed themselves up against each other and she wrapped one arm around his neck, pulling him in. It wasn't like the heated kiss in the car earlier. It was sweet and full of promise and the love that they had for each other.

When they pulled back, Alex reached out and took her hand and took the ring out of the box, but Jo pulled back. She could see the disappointment flash across his face, but she reached out and took the ring and with her other hand, she pulled the locket from under her shirt. 

“I love the ring, but if I put it on my ring finger everyone’s going to assume we’re engaged and Ms. Schmidt is going to kill you,” Jo said as Alex chuckled and nodded as she put the ring in the locket. “But I promise you one day, if you propose with a diamond ring, I’ll say yes, but not until.”

“After you graduate med school, I know,” Alex said as he finished her sentence and his eyes sparkled as he just stared at her.

The spring sun warmed the grass and a gentle breeze wound through the trees to tickle their skin. It was a nice enough day that Jo didn't protest when Alex pulled her down to the grass. He leaned in to kiss her again and reach for the hem of her t-shirt. Jo reached for his T-shirt to pull it off as well. She was undoing the belt around his waist when his ears picked up the sound of another car on the gravel road and pulled away from her. Jo turned around and her eyes went wide as she spotted the familiar cop car make its way down to the river. 

“Shit,” Jo said as she quickly grabbed her shirt and Alex's hand and pulled him over to the car.

The two of them quickly got into the car, pulling their shirts back over their head before Alex turned the key in the ignition. The second the car roared to life, the officer turned on the sirens. Jo looked back at the cop car. They were close but Alex was quicker as he put the car in drive and raced off. She quickly put her seatbelt on and did Alex's for him as they raced off. The cop car chased them, but they were faster and easily outpaced them before hiding around the corner of old Mr. Higgins Barn. 

“Why is it that whenever I go to the river with you, we always end up running from the law,” Jo said with an eye roll as she finally pulled her t-shirt back on.

Alex didn't respond, he just laughed and Jo couldn't help but smile as she shook her head. “You know that since my mom’s been committed, I technically have the house to myself?”

“Oh really, so you're saying that instead of being out here rolling around in the grass where we could get caught, we could have been at your place?” Jo said, staring at him with a deadpan look.

“Alright, alright, we can go there now,” Alex said with a smile as he started the car again. 

……………………………………………………………………

The second her name was called, Jo took a deep breath before walking across the graduation stage. Unlike all of the other students, there wasn't a large crowd shouting her name, clapping and cheering for her. As she looked, she saw Alex, Ms. Schmidt, and Lexi clapping and shouting, Alex even whistled. Her chest was filled with so much pride as she accepted her diploma, shaking the hands of the principal and the other staff. She had done it. She remembered being 14 and wondering how she was going to do this when she was living in her car. Yet here she was and she had a home, a boyfriend, and people who cared about her. She smiled for the rest of the day and after throwing her cap up in the air and catching it, she immediately ran to find Alex and Ms. Schmidt. 

It took a while to find them amidst the crowd, but as soon as she spotted Alex she ran for him. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up as they kissed. She relaxed in his arms as her lips melted into his. She laughed as he spun her around and he eventually set her down. Ms. Schmidt soon claimed his place, pulling her in for a hug and Jo relished the feeling of being in the woman who was like her mother's arms. However, she knew that these hugs would be few and far between after she and Alex left that afternoon. 

She and Lexie had a joint graduation party, although Lexie’s side had more people, a lot of Jo's friends came as well. It was a good time and Jo enjoyed it. However, she couldn't wait in anticipation as the party ended. Finally, Alex helped her pack the last of her things into the u-haul they had attached to Alex's car as they prepared to leave for Boston. They both had officially been accepted into Princeton University that year and Jo had a special invitation to attend the summer program. She and Alex were finally moving to Boston and getting out of this small town. 

“Are you two sure you don't want to stay the night and leave tomorrow morning? It's such a long drive and I'd hate for you to have to drive through the night when you could get a good night's sleep,” Ms. Schmidt said as Jo loaded up the last of the boxes and Alex pulled the trailer door down.

“It's only 18 hours and if we leave now, we’ll be there by 3 p.m. tomorrow. Plus, it's not like we won't sleep. We’ll be taking shifts through the night,” Jo said as she fiddled with the strap to her bag that she hadn't put in the car yet. 

“I suppose I'm only putting off the inevitable,” Ms. Schmidt said with a sigh as she looked at Jo. 

Jo could tell that she was holding back tears because she was doing the same. She took a deep breath, trying to hold them back, but they clouded her vision as she reached forward and wrapped her arms around Ms. Schmidt. “Thank you for everything, Mom.” 

Jo hadn't meant to call her Mom. It just came out, but it felt right as she hugged her close. 

“You’re so welcome, my dear,” Ms. Schmidt said, holding her tightly, squeezing her a little bit too hard, but Jo didn't mind. “You have grown into such a wonderful young woman, Josephine and I love you with all my heart.”

Jo couldn't manage to say any words in return, she just hugged her and nodded against her shoulder. Jo didn't want to let go and it seems that neither did Ms. Schmidt as they hugged each other. Finally, they pulled apart and Ms. Schmidt held her shoulders before reaching up and holding Jo’s face. She brushed away Jo’s tears before she pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

She finally let go, and Jo stepped back as Alex wrapped his arm around her waist and she let herself lean into him. They stared at each other for a moment before Jo took a deep breath and Alex let her over to the passenger side door opening it for her like he always did. Jo put her bag down in the seat and moved a few things around. She looked back at Ms. Schmidt before getting into the car. 

“Now, you two, stick to the speed limit. I know how you like to speed, Alexander, but you got my baby girl and your front seat, so I hope you'll be careful,” Ms. Schmidt said to him with a scolding finger.

“Yes, ma'am,” Alex said with a simple nod as he climbed into the car. 

“And if either of you get too tired, just pull over and get a motel somewhere, and be sure to get a good breakfast somewhere good, not McDonald's! Go to a breakfast restaurant somewhere and when you get there….” Ms. Schmidt paused, and she seemed to think of what to say next, but instead, she just clapped her hands in front of her and smiled at them. “You two just take care and call me whenever you need me.”

“We will,” Jo I assured her before she looked over at Alex to see him nodding as well. 

Alex turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. He looked over at her and just smiled as she held out her hand as he reached to intertwine their fingers. He gave her hand to squeeze before he put the car in drive and turned out of the driveway. 

“Bye,” Jo said, waving her hand out the window as Ms. Schmidt waved back at her. 

Jo waved until they turned the corner of the street and Ms. Schmidt disappeared from view. A bit of grief hit her then, although she knew they would be back to see her at Christmas. Yet it was soon overtaken with a bit of excitement as they headed out of town for the last time. Jo let a smile spread across her face. They were finally getting out of here and going to Boston. Unlike what they usually did, they hopped onto I-90 as they headed east. Jo watched as the cornfields passed by. Although, she soon felt a tug on her hand as Alex looked over at her. 

“There's something I got to tell you,” Alex said with a nervous expression as he avoided her eyes. “I didn't get into Princeton.”

“What?” Jo momentarily freaked out. The only reason they were moving to Boston was because they had both gotten into Princeton. What was he doing? Why was he throwing away his education for her? “Oh my God, Alex. Why didn't you tell me this earlier? You're screwed now.”

“Okay, just hold up, princess. I didn't get into Princeton, but I did get into New Jersey University,” Alex said, holding up his hand and taking in her shocked expression. “My grades have improved since I started at Iowa State University, but when I applied for a transfer to Princeton, it just wasn't enough. So I also applied to New Jersey University and I was accepted. I know it's not Princeton, but it's in the same town, and we'll still be able to live together.”

Jo let her shock fade as she absorbed the news, although she quickly reached out and punched his arm. “I can't believe you didn't tell me until now, you asshole.”

“Ow, hey,” Alex protested as he rubbed his arm. “I'm sorry, but it's not like we won't be together anymore. We survived a year with me at college and you’re still in high school. We're going to be together now, that's all that matters.”

Jo let out a breath as she looked back at him. She reached out for his hand again and gave it to squeeze. “You're right. We're together, that's all that matters.” 

She pulled Alex's hand forward and kissed the back of his hand. He looked over at her and gave her that crooked smile that she loved. They both looked forward as Jo put her head on his shoulder. They had their whole futures ahead of them and they were finally getting out of this town. They weren't running from anything this time, not their guardians, of the law, or High School, or anything. They were running, and they would run as far as fast as they could towards bigger and better things. They were both one step closer to becoming the doctors they'd always dreamed of being and they were together. They always would be. 

There's been this hole in my heart

This thing was a shot in the dark

Say you'll never let 'em tear us apart

And I'll hold onto you while we run (and we run, and we run, and we run)

Like you'd run from the law (and we run, and we run, and we run)

Darling, let's run (and we run, and we run, and we run)

Run from it all (and we run, and we run, and we run)

We can go where our eyes can take us (and we run, and we run, and we run)

Go where no one else is, run (and we run, and we run, and we run)

Oo-oo-oo, we'll run

[beezonia]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE SWEET BEAN QUEEN LEYA HYENA!!!!

Here’s her birthday dialogue with some characters/others ocs I feel like she’d get along with!

Yuu and Leya

Leya: Ah, Prefect you came all the way to Toontasma today to see me?!

Yuu: Happy birthday Leya. Hope you’re having a great day?

Leya: Oh thank you Prefect, and my day is most certainly better now you’ve come and visited! (Laughs)

Yuu: Have you wished for anything special?

Leya: (sighs) I forgot to… Hey why don’t we wish for something together?! The stars are really really pretty tonight and we can wish on the brightest ones!

Yuu: Of course, on the count of three!

Leya and Yuu: 1 2 3!!!!

Leya: Oh I feel so happy, I wish everyone could feel like this! Thanks a lot Prefect, today’s celebration has been wonderful and it’s all been for me!! We should do this next year too!!

Yuu: Of course we can Leya, enjoy the rest of your special day.

Leya: Thanks again Prefect!!! See ya soon!!

Vera and Leya - @toontasma

Vera: Happy birthday darling, hope the party exceeds your expectations?

Leya: Thanks Vera, the party is certainly in full swing… I think Arma got some of the first years drunk. (Chuckles)

Vera: Damn that slimy bastards at it again! I have your present with me, hope you’ll like it sweetie.

Leya: (blushes) T-thanks Vera, I’m flattered. (Opens it) A NEW SCARF!! Thank you Vera just what I needed!!

Vera: I’m glad you like it, I’d feel a bit stupid if it wasn’t the one you wanted.

Leya: I’d take it and cherish it even if it was the wrong one, after all ya don’t need to worry about stuff like that with me! I ain’t a picky person!

Vera: That so, well if you’re not as picky as you say how bout you come with me to that cafe you like at the weekend?

Leya: (blushes) R-Really, you wanna take me?! Of course I’ll go with you it’d be like a date!

Vera:(blushes) A date? Ahh, that’s not what I meant but it’s your birthday so I guess I can make an exception.

Leya: Love you to Vera! Thanks for the scarf!! See you later!!

Conrad and Leya - @piraticusdorm - I feel these two would get along really well, even though Leya is the shy type! Maybe Conrad can bring out her crazier side!

Leya: Conrad!!! You made it!!!

Conrad: Leya Happy birthday darling! Hope you’ve had a wonderful day?

Leya: Oh yes, it’s been wonderful!! I think Arma may have gotten some first years drunk though.

Conrad: (laughs) Oh did he now? Well that’s one way to spend your birthday.

Leya: Yeah it is, thanks for coming again Conrad, means a lot to me.

Conrad: I wouldn’t have missed this for the world dear Leya. Your a great friend. I cherish you alot.

Leya: Thank you, you wanna know what my birthday wish was?

Conrad: Go on then.

Leya: I wanted to spend it with the people I love most. It definitely came true!

Conrad: I’m glad, happy birthday yet again Leya . Enjoy the rest of your night!

Leya: Thanks Conrad, and hope you will too!”

End of part one???

[odd-birds-and-booksellers]

'Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody'

This my late Birthday gift to Leya @iamtrebleclefstories. . She's cute, we don't hate her, merry Christmas and happy new year. Yay Leya. I forgot what writing was so please enjoy. 

 Jo groaned as she rolled over, trying to fall further into the sheets, her nose curling up in distaste as the scent of old sweat and sex washes over her, these definitely weren’t her sheets. Cracking an eye open she takes in her surroundings, the dark dingy sight of a basement surrounds her, a Rocky poster hanging haphazardly off the wall. It looks like it has been there since the 80s, in fact, most of the crap in this dump did. She sighs, squeezing her eyes shut as the memories of last night come flooding back, now without her beer goggles on the sexy guy at the bar was more a sleazy grease ball clearly still living with his mother. Good going Jo, were you honestly that horny that this guy seemed like a good idea? Shuddering at the thought of his clumsy hands all over her and the way he kept telling her she liked it when he hadn’t done anything was enough to make her wanna cry as she slips out of the bed, quickly grabbing her dress from the floor as she headed towards the stairs, wincing as the old wood creaked under her feet with each step praying to god he didn't wake up.

She sighed a breath of relief as the sunlight met her face, she was so close to getting away without being noticed it's only when sleazeballs mother stops her at the front door that she thinks she might actually start crying. The older woman was clearly not used to seeing another woman exiting her son's room and seemed practically giddy at the sight, as she ushered Jo towards the kitchen muttering something about having always wanted a daughter. It takes Jo well over an hour to slip out of her grasp, only managing to do so after promising the mother that she’d be back for tea another day. She definitely wouldn’t be, in fact, she was considering changing her name and leaving the country. She thought the son was bad but clearly, his mother was where he got it from.

Jo doesn't mind the walk back to her apartment, if she’s honest the sun beating down on her face makes her feel good, almost enough to lift her mood as she kicks off her heels picking them up in her hand as she lazily strolls down the street ignoring the disgusted look from the parents on the school run as she passed the local middle school, as if they weren't once her age doing the exact same walk of shame.

Jo doesn't think she’s ever been happier to see her shitplace of an apartment building as she enters the lobby, quickly tapping at the elevator button, praying to god noisy Mrs Parker doesn't magically appear to tell her about a woman's virtue again. As the elevator doors slip open though she's met with a sight worst then the grease ball she woke up next to this morning. There is her neighbour...number 29 with what must be his woman of the night pressed up against the mirrors, Jo’s not really in the place to judge this woman but if only she knew where 29 had been, I mean someone should tell her to get checked. “27….did not see you there.” He grins making Jo snap out from where she had been staring at them in disgust, her nose wrinkling up as she met his eye. He was stupidly attractive if anything it made Jo hate him more, with his sharp jawline, two-day-old stubble and messy bed hair, that signature smirk that seemed to make her blood boil every time they bumped into each other.

“Clearly…” Jo deadpans, as she gestures to the lobby, waiting for them to vacate the elevator so she could get in. Instead, 29 simply pats the woman's behind, gently pushing her towards the exits as he mumbles his goodbye.

“You can call me later...I’ll be waiting okay?” The small blonde mumbles, biting her lip as she brushes a hand through her hair, stumbling slightly as she exits the lift. Jo rolls her eyes finding the whole show nauseating.

“Yeah...sounds good, I'll see what I've got on.” Code for I’ll never see you again. He grumbles another goodbye, shooting Jo glare as he jolts his head back towards the elevator and she sighs brushing past the blonde as she makes her way to the back corner pressing herself into the wall, as far away from 29 as possible. She watches as he begins to furiously push the close door button, forcing a smile as the blonde continues to ramble on about their cosmic connection and Jo has to withhold her laugh, trying to cover it up with a cough as 29 turns around the glare at her once again. They both let out a sigh of relief when the doors finally shut and the elevator jumps into action. Jo can’t seem to stop the little giggle that escapes her lips as 29 leans on the wall beside her.

“Cosmic connection huh?”

“What can I say 27? I always leave the ladies wanting more.” He winks and Jo honestly thinks she might vomit.

As Jo looks up she spots him still smirking at her as he looks her up and down taking in her creased black dress and worn heels hanging from her hand.

“Really? you always leave me wanting to gag.” She mutters, rolling her eyes as she looks up at the ceiling, cursing the old lift in their block.

They’d been neighbours for a little over a year and she swears she has never seen him with the same woman, she knew everyone was entitled to their own sex life and she tried to not judge but this guy had a new one each day. That wasn’t a problem of course I mean Jo didn’t really care, she too made her own questionable decisions so she couldn’t judge these girls. From the sound of things, he must know how to do something right. But that is the problem, the sound of things, all times of the day and night when she's trying to revise, when she was trying to sleep before her bio exam, when she was on the phone to her boss trying to call in sick. Granted there probably isn't an easy way to ask your neighbour to have sex quietly and maybe she shouldn’t have called him a gigilo at the residents meeting or called the police...twice but hey she needed to study. Anyway, this had led to a little not so friendly war between the two, it started when he’d sent back her parcels when the delivery driver had asked him to take them in while she was at work, then she’d eaten his take out knowing they’d knocked on the wrong door, then she’d blasted Barney the Dinosaur when she could tell he was close to finishing, he’d told the caretaker he could smell gas from her apartment when he couldn't and then left her with the new door bill and she’d woken up early one week to give every girl that left his a sexual health clinic pamphlet. So yeah a little war...it was all fun and games really... Jo didn’t totally hate it, not that she’d ever tell him that, no she’d never mention how their little war was a fun distraction from her stressful life.

She hears him chuckles as the lift rumbles to a stop on their floor, he kicks off the wall partially pushing her out of the way as he exits the elevator. “I bet I do...but you aren’t a lady 27.”

Jo groans clearly he’d taken her gag comment in another direction, a direction that really did make vomit rise in her throat as she begins to dig through her purse for her keys. “Yeah, and you’re an ass.”

He just laughs again as he crosses the hallway to his own front door. “It’s been a pleasure as always.” He smiles, as he unlocks his door slipping into his own apartment without a second look.

Panic begins to set in as Jo rummages through her purse, her ID and card are still tucked into the pocket, a lipgloss and her phone but no key. Sighing she kneels down dropping the contents of her bag onto her doormat as if the key was magically going to reappear. Brilliant she’d lost it. Groaning Jo bangs her head against the cool wood of her door, she can feel the tears welling in her eyes and she's pretty sure it is the alcohol. She could go down and ask the caretaker to break her door in but if she was honest she really couldn’t afford to buy another door. She slips lower onto the floor and twists around so her back is leant against the door. Steph had a spare key...she just didn’t know where Steph was.

6 Missed calls later Jo receives a text from her, she's at work and not happy that Jo had been blowing up her phone for the last 10 minutes. Jo rolls her eyes as her friend promises to swing by on her lunch break with said key, clearly not sympathetic to Jo being left to sit on her doorstep for four hours wearing next to nothing, smelling like old beer and bad decisions.

Just when she thinks her luck can’t get worse the door opposite swings open, there in his stupidly hot grey joggers and black T stands 29 again. “What are you doing?” he asks.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I clearly think the dirty hallway outside my apartment is more comfortable than my bed and have decided I'll sleep out here.”

“Okay…” He shrugs, as the elevator doors ding open and the pizza guy Jo recognises from the place down the street appears, she had no idea they delivered this early. She watches as he greets nine handing over the box to him. Jo can hear stomach grumbling as she eyes up the box in his hand.

“Wait…” She grumbles, against her better judgment leaping off the floor and dusting off her dress as the pizza guy heads out. “Can I come in?

“What?” 29 stares at her in surprise.

“I’m locked out...so can I come in for an hour...or two…” Or four. “Just until my friend can drop off the spare key.”

“Hmm let me think about it.” 29 cocks his head to the side as leans against the door frame for a moment. “No...No you can’t.”

“Oh come on...you’re actually gonna make me sit out here all morning.”

“Life’s a bitch you know….” The doors slam shut and Jo resists the urge to throw her purse across the hallway. She knew it was a bad idea to ask, call it a moment of insanity.

Just as she's about to make the walk down to Mrs Parker’s deciding a lecture on a woman's place in the world and the lord saviour was better than sitting on the cold floor for hours, 29’s door reopens. “You can come in on one condition.”

“I'm not sleeping with you,” Jo mutters as she narrows her eyes on him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He lets out a short chuckle nodding as if he appreciated her response. “That’s cute but I'm not offering, no offence but I don't know where you've been.” He gestures towards her current appearance as he opens the door wider stepping aside for her to enter.

Jo just hovers at the doorway, weighing up her choices, there's gotta be a cost to making a deal with the devil. “Yeah, I'm the problem...what's the condition?”

“You call me Alex from now on.”

“Alex….” The word rolls off Jos' tongue as she tests it out. It feels unfamiliar and just plain wrong. It was way too human for him.

“Yeah Alex...my name.”

“Wait, your name isn't number 29?”

“No...Jo, it isn't.” He makes a point of saying her name and she feels shivers down her spine as his eyes meet hers.

“How do you know that my name is Jo?” It’s a stupid question, she knows he knows it, she hadn’t introduced herself as 27, he heard it at the resident's meetings, seen it on the post box and parcels. It wouldn’t be that hard to know but in all the time she's known him, he’d called her 27. She had just assumed he didn’t care enough to know her name or to use it.

“I'm not an idiot.”

Jo sighs, patting his chest as she pushes past him to the devil's lair. “Coulda fooled me, Alex.”

Jo wasn't particularly surprised by the inside of 29...Alex’s home, it was as predicted a standard bachelor pad, a couch, a tv, just the essentials no real homely touches, there were however a few framed photographs around the place. Honestly, the way he comes and goes with a new stranger she would be surprised to find that he had any real friends or family and yet there were several photos of the same set of people. They all looked relatively recent, a few caught her eye in particular one in which 29 was standing there in light blue scrubs and a lab coat, one arm slung around a blonde in navy scrubs smiling ear to ear, a genuine smile none of that fake smirk crap he puts on when she's sees him.

“Beer?” He queries and shuts the fridge, two bottles already in hand as he slides one over the counter towards her.

“It’s 8 am.”

“And yet you’re dressed like that.”

Jo chews on her lip resisting the urge to reply with another sarcastic comment, she's grateful he let her in. Let's not try and get kicked out now. “Fairpoint.” She nods, taking the beer offered to her.

“You wanna take a shower?” Alex asks after a moment, he lets out a bitter laugh when Jo raises one eyebrow at him. “Honestly Jo you keep assuming I wanna sleep with you, I'm flattered but honestly I was just offering because well you kinda stink.”

Jo's jaw clenched as she tried to force a fake smile, he wasn’t wrong of course and to be honest a shower sounded like heaven right now even if it was in the devil's lair but he could’ve been a gentleman and not pointed it out.

“Thanks for the very kind offer…” She grumbles, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she spoke.“But I don’t have any other clothes.”

“Really? I assumed this was attire was by choice. I mean that is the standard uniform for the street corner right?”  He takes a swig of his beer before continuing. “Obviously you can borrow some of mine.”

“Yeah and catch something nasty I’m sure.”

“Nothing nastier than what’s on your dress right now.”

“Fine, I’ll take a shower.” Jo snaps following him down the hall, snatching the towel he offers her from his hands as he shows her to the bathroom. “For the record, I’m not a hooker.”

Jo feels a whole lot better when she steps into the shower, the hot water steaming up the bathroom washing away all of yesterday's mistakes, clearing her mind as she tips her head back, letting the water fall against her face as she relishes in the moment, ignoring the fact that this isn't her own shower and instead of smelling like her usual vanilla body wash she'd smell like Ice Axe whatever the hell that was meant to smell like.

When she finally exits the shower she grabs the towel he’d given her, wrapping it tightly around herself as she pokes her head outside the door. “Alex?”

“In here…” She follows the sound of his voice down the hall to the last door, opening it she finds what she assumes is his bedroom, it's sparse like the rest of his apartment, a half-made bed, two bedside tables and a chest of draws in the corner, which Alex was rummaging around in before finally turning to hand her some garments with an apologetic shrug, they look a little big for her but she's grateful to wear anything that's clean and not so revealing.

He gives her a curt nod as he points towards the door making his exit so she can change in peace and Jo takes the opportunity to snoop a little, there aren't any photos in here but there is a framed certificate leaning against the wall on his chest of draws...a doctorate. 29 was a freaking doctor. Jo shudders at the thought of having that guy save her life as she pulls the baggy joggers over her hips, tying them as tight as possible before shrugging the worn sweatshirt he handed her on.

When she finally makes her way back down the hallway, she finds him munching on a slice of pizza as he lays across his couch. She watches as he notices her standing there, trying to hide his laughter at her appearance which only reminds Jo why she thinks he's such an ass as she grabs her now lukewarm beer from the countertop, hesitantly making her way to sit on the opposite end of the sofa.

“You’re a doctor?”

“Mhmm, a surgeon...you sound surprised.”

“I am...I always assumed doctors had to be you know, intelligent.”

“I assumed hookers had a sense of humour.”

“I'm not a hooker.” Jo glowered, flipping him off as she twisted to face the wall opposite them.

“So you said...what are you then?” He asks, and Jo rolls her neck as decides whether or not she wants to even answer, unsure she wants to share any information with him as he watches her expectantly.

“I'm a student...pre-med.”

“Really?” Alex's eyes twinkle and Jo wants to die right there and then. “Well it looks like we have more in common then I thought.”

“Please don't make me sick…”

The smile drops from his face as he places the beer down with a thud on the coffee table. “What makes you hate me so much?”

“I don't hate you.” Jo shrugs. Faking interest in the photos on the wall, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“No?”

“I just don't like you.” She finishes and she watches as the line of his mouth hardens, his frown forming as he shifts a little closer to her, his voice hoarse when he speaks.

“But why? What did I do to you?”

“You're just a douchebag.”

“I'm not a...shut up. What do you know about me?” He winces, draining the rest of his beer and there's something about the look on his face that makes Jo feel a little guilty like her words had wounded him which was weird because up until this point she wasn't aware 29 was capable of feeling human emotions.

“I know you're the kinda guy that orders pizza and drinks beer at half eight in the morning.” She gestures to the beer in her hand and the half-eaten pizza on the table.

“I'm a doctor. I didn't finish work until 4 this morning...this is dinner, a very late dinner.”

Jo scrunches up her face, he really does have an answer for everything but that doesn't mean she's wrong, he's definitely a douchebag. “Okay well you sleep around like your life depends on it.”

“It's stress relief, some people go to the gym...some people...”

“Yeah well, you're aware it doesn't have to be a different woman each night.”

“Jealous?”

“Oh yes please Alex treat me like one of the women you throw away each night,” Jo begs, leaning up on her knees, her voice turning sickly sweet as she bats her eyelashes in Alex’s direction.

He doesn't laugh or even smirk like she expects him to, he looks genuinely hurt as he looks over at her. “I don't throw them away, okay? they know I'm not looking for anything, I don't have the time to build a relationship with someone, doesn't mean you have to hate me, you don’t actually know me.”

“You lied and had my door broken down…”

He looks up at her, eyes narrowed in confusion. “What? No, I didn’t.”

Jo scoffs, shifting back down in her seat with her legs tucked under her. “Alex I know it was you that reported a gas leak, Louis told me.”

Alex closes his eyes shaking his head. “No I did call it in but I really did smell something, I was worried I hadn’t seen you for a while.”

“I was staying with my friends.”

“So you hate me because…”

“I already told you I don't hate you…

“But you don't like me.”

“You don't like me either.”

“I never said that.” Alex snaps, maybe it was her brain still buzzing with alcohol but she could’ve sworn his voice had got deeper. “I like you plenty.”

Jo sighs, taking a big swig of the beer in her hand. She was trying to process what she was hearing.

“You're smart, you've got a wicked sense of humour and you already know you’re hot...what's not to like…”

She takes a deep breath as it occurs to her this could all be another elaborate prank, even though the look in his eyes tells her he's being nothing but sincere right now she has to be cautious. “Are you serious right now?”

“Deadly.” He bends down resting his elbows against his thighs and he rakes a hand through his messy bed hair. “I don’t know how to make this clearer Jo, I like you, have done pretty much since the day you barged into my apartment in those rugrat pyjamas demanding I keep the noise down. I’m sorry I came off like a douchebag but you’re hot and I was probably trying to act like you didn't have an effect on me.”

“You’ve never said this before.”

“Yeah well, you've never been that welcoming before.”

Jo's brows furrow as she mentally goes back for every interaction they've ever had. Had she honestly been reading him wrong this whole time, if she tries to see it from Alex’s perspective maybe she had been the one being a douchebag?

She doesn’t respond, leaning back against the sofa. She’s not sure what she supposed to do with all this information especially when his version of events seem so polar opposite to her own until an hour ago she hadn’t seen one moment of warmth or kindness from Alex or at least she thought she hadn’t but maybe she just hadn’t been reading him right.

When she peers over at him his eyes are turned down to the beer in his hands, picking slowly at the label. They sit like that in silence for a moment before he shifts laying back on the opposite side of the sofa, switching the TV on without another world.

Was this all in her head? Had she decided they were bitter enemies? Right now the guy lounging beside her felt a world away from her crappy ass neighbour.

She must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing Jo remembers is being gently shaken by Alex. “Jo…” He hisses. “Jo wake up...your friends here.” He nods towards the doorway where there in fact is Steph, impatient tapping her foot against the floor still in her work uniform.

Jo blinks a couple of times still working out her surroundings before she jumps up grabbing her purse and clothes from the side. “I…” She comes to halt in the doorway spinning around and she practically smacks into Alex. “I...Thank you for today and…” The words die in her mouth, thanks for telling me you like me? What the hell was she meant to say?

“It’s all good...anytime.” He gives her a polite smile, a little nod letting her know she didn’t have to say anything else like he could read her mind already.

She nods, stepping out of his apartment, ignoring Steph's eye as she crosses the hallway to her own front door. It’s only when they’re in the safety of her apartment Steph speaks up.

“Imagine my surprise when I show up to find 29 opening his door to tell me you’re asleep at his.”

Jo groans, dramatically throwing herself against her own couch. “Please don’t start...I...I was locked out. He let me crash there until you came...took your time by the way.”

Steph lets out a dry laugh, wandering over to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and bringing it over to Jo. “Yeah, how rude of me to have a job and not be ready for any time you decide to lose your key on a one night stand.”

“Mhmm, my head hurts be nicer to me.”

“Nice try...you’re lucky I only have an hour lunch break but I will be back and I want every detail of whatever that was I just witnessed...you hear me, Josephine.”

“The whole block can hear you.” Jo groans pulling one of the pillows over her head as she hears the heavy click of her front door shutting.

She doesn’t see 29...Alex again for two days. She swears he might be actively avoiding her, they usually run into each other most days but she hadn’t heard his door creak open for a while and the longer she goes without seeing him the more she finds herself wanting to. His words still replying over and over in her mind.

It’s late when she hears the familiar ding of the elevators, knowing he's probably the only one up at this late hour. She slowly tiptoes her way to the door, peering out through her keyhole to confirm it is in fact Alex, he looks exhausted as he fiddles with his keys in the low light of the hallway. Before she knows what she’s doing she's twisting the lock on her door, the noise startling him as he looks up surprised to see her standing there in the same rugrat pyjamas she had on when they first met.

"Hi..."

“Jo...Hey.”

“Are you...are you okay?” She feels dumb asking the question, it’s close to midnight, he looks tired and shes there asking him if he's okay when really they don’t even know each other.

“I’m good.” He presses his lips together as an awkward silence falls between them. “Was there something you wanted?”

“Oh yes…” Jo nods, frantically pushing off the door frame as she grabs the pile of washed and folded clothes from her side. “I wanted to return these and you know to say thank you again...for the other day.”

“Oh.” Alex nods, accepting the clothes from her before flashing her grateful smile. “You’re welcome...I’ll see you around.” He mumbles as he turns back around to face his own door, fiddling with the lock.

“Alex…” Jo calls just as the door squeaks open, making him stop in his tracks, letting out an exhausted sigh and she can tell he’s not really in the mood to talk but she can’t seem to keep her thoughts to herself any longer. “You said I was hot...the other day you said I was hot and that you liked me.”

Alex rolls his eyes, dumping his keys and bag at the table by his door. “Yeah well you are hot and I do like you.”

Jo nods, taking a deep breath as she tries to coherently share her thoughts. She’s spent the last two days just replaying their conversation over and over again, their once black and white relationship now confusing for her. She steps forward closing her door behind her until she's only inches away from Alex. “I’ve been thinking about us.”

“Us? Is there an us?” He queries and Jo’s breath hitches as she feels one of his hands come to rest against her waist.

“Well...there's two of us here.”

Alex smiles a small laugh falling from his lips as his arms encircle her and waist, pulling her closer. “And you’ve been thinking about that huh? Me and you.”

Jo feels like all the air has been sucked out of her lungs as she stares up at his smirking face. Instead of answering him, she rises up on her tiptoes, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulls his face down to meet hers. There's a second of hesitation before they seem to lean forward in sync, her lips finding his easily, it's slow and sweet, not what she’d imagine from 29 at all and yet she is 100% sure it’s the best kiss she’s ever had.

Pulling back slowly he traces his thumb over her bottom lip and any words Jo had been trying to say are completely forgotten about.

“Were you thinking about that?”

“It was a little different actually…” She manages.

“Really?”

“Yeah it was more…” Jo pulls him down again with a little more force this time, her lips finding him easily. She's not sure she'll ever be able to stop, she doesn't think she'll ever get enough of him and all they’ve done is kiss. She feels him groan as he tugs her further into his apartment, slamming the door shut behind them. Jo’s pretty sure his kisses might just be like heaven as she runs her hands through his hair, a tiny yelp emitting from her throat as he lifts her up off the floor so that she's on his level, high enough to wrap her legs around his waist.

He stumbles down the hallway stopping to press Jo against the wall as he struggles with the door handle to his room. Every coherent thought Jo had is long gone when he drops her down onto the bed, lowering himself down with her as he turns his attention to her neck and Jo can’t stop herself from moaning as he hits her sweet spot.

“Shhh….” Alex whispers trailing kisses back up her jawline until he's hovering above her, his eyes sparkling with happiness as they find hers. “My neighbour is a real bitch about the noise.” He jokes and Jo finds herself laughing along with him as he presses his lips to hers once more.

[doc-pickles]

all jokes aside

Welp... I’m a day late to Leya’s birthday but in my defense I thought it was on the 6th so really I’m early. Anyways HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEYA aka @iamtrebleclefstories!!!! Thanks for always letting me bounce my ideas off of you and for constantly sending me into emotional distress. You’re a real good friend.

“You’re not really pregnant are you?”

The question causes Jo to look from her hand that’s interlocked with Alex’s to his face. He’s taken out his vampire teeth but he’s looking at her with an unreadable expression. She stops walking for a moment, pressing her free hand against Alex’s chest with a grin.

“No I’m not. You think that’s how I would tell you,” Jo let a laugh out as Alex pulled her closer to him. “I promise when I am pregnant someday I’ll hire a skywriter or something.”

“I was kinda hoping you were. A baby wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Alex finally let a small grin paint itself on his face, eyes meeting Jo’s uncertainly. “I mean, I don’t think so. I don’t know about you.”

Jo matched his grin, pulling Alex into a searing kiss as her hands tangled in his hair. When they pulled apart, both were grinning wildly, “I don’t think a baby would be a bad thing at all.”

“That’s probably the best thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Alex dipped his head down to trail kisses along Jo’s neck, eliciting a string of giggle from her. “If we weren’t in the middle of a parking lot I would definitely do dirty things to you.”

“Well if you keep moving we can do dirty things in the car,” a startled yelp left Jo as Alex hoisted her over his shoulder and began to trek towards his car. “Thank god, I’ve been waiting all day for this.”

+

“Paula, how’s my clinic looking today?”

Alex Karev didn’t think he could be in a better mood today. In the last 24 hours he’d managed to secure more funding for Pac North, avoided a police investigation of the mass grave the construction team had stumbled upon, and finally legally married his wife, leading to the hot car sex in the parking lot of the courthouse last night. The cherry on top though was as he and Jo climbed into bed last night and she informed him she was ready to start trying for a baby. The news had caught him by surprise, the prospect of starting a family with the woman he loved causing him to walk around the hospital with a megawatt grin.

“Things are running pretty smoothly here,” the older nurse handed Alex an electronic chart as she surveyed the clinic. “Actually, we’ve had quite a few patients come in today which is always a good thing to see.”

Alex scrolled through the patient intake list, shocked to see so many people in today. For Grey Sloan that would’ve been a normal day, but for Pac North the volume of patients was a new surge. He looked around the room, proud of the changes that he’d helped make, when his eyes stopped on a familiar pair of red slippers peeking out from under one of the patient curtains.

“Paula, who’s in bed five,” Alex asked the woman to his left. He was just seeing things, he knew he was, but the slippers were the same ones that sat in front of his bed every night.

“She’s been puking into a basin all morning, Katie ran her labs which should be back soon,” Paula shrugged as she pulled the chart up on the tablet in her hands. “Pretty sure she’s just pregnant, but I have her hooked up to an IV because the poor thing is so dehydrated.”

Alex looked over the chart that Paula handed him, almost rolling his eyes as he read the name of the patient. Brooke Wilson. If he wasn’t so worried about his wife, Alex might’ve laughed out loud.

“You let me know when those labs come back, I’m gonna go check on Miss Wilson over there,” Alex smiled at Paula before walking over to bed five, pulling back the curtain. “You know your fake name was probably the most obvious thing you could’ve picked.”

Jo was curled up in a ball, hands clutching a basin close to her chest as she looked up at Alex. Her face was pale and she looked like she hadn’t slept well.

“Less obvious than Karev, I was hoping to keep you away for a while longer,” Jo mustered up her best smile as Alex sat next to her, hand coming up to stroke her hair. “I think I jinxed myself.”

“This is why we don’t make jokes about being pregnant,” Jo groaned then and buried her face into the pillow below her. “You okay? I mean besides the throwing up?”

“No I wanna die. My whole body hurts and I’ve been craving a burrito since I woke up but I just threw it up and I can’t even keep water down,” Jo’s eyes began to water, large tears rolling down her face as she looked up at Alex. “And now I’m crying about the burritos. I hate this!”

“Doctor Karev, I have those lab results,” Paula peaked her head around the curtain, eyeing Alex and Jo with a smirk. “Looks like I was right.”

“Well on the bright side, at least you don’t have the stomach flu,” Alex let a chuckle out as he brought Jo into his side, his hand lazily resting on her stomach. “I can’t believe you made that joke and you were actually pregnant.”

“I can’t believe we agreed to start trying when I was already pregnant,” Jo laughed as she grinned at Alex. “Sounds about right for us.”

The pair dissolved into a fit of laughter, elated over the fact that their family was growing, even if they’d only just decided that would be something they were ready for. Nothing had ever gone quite to plan for them, but they were nothing if not people who went with the flow no matter where it took them.

“Hey sorry I didn’t hire a sky writer,” Jo struggled to hold back her laughter as her and Alex met each other’s gazes. “Maybe next time.”

[writeuntilyourhandshurt]

Put That Book Down.

"Oh fuck." Artezia whispered slowly, backing away from Leya, who was rolling on her back, very much ready to attack the man. He just sighed. "Okay, give- no, don't look at me like that." Leya simply stared. "Give me the mistletoe back." She didn't react. "God I can't deal with you." He dropped his shoulders, and made his way to Levi's room, knocking softly onto her door. Upon her soft invite, he walked in.

"Put that book down and come help me." He leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, a knowing smile ever present on his plum lips.

"What? Why?" 

Artezia smirked.

"Dew's cat. She got ahold of the mistletoe. And soon enough she will make her way to the tree I managed to hide. Now, stop staring at me like I'm going to ask you to make gingerbread houses and come help me."

Levi groaned.

"Why dont you just ask Andrew?"

"Andrew is busy knitting. I wouldn't want to interrupt his hobbies. Besides, seeing you angry is way funnier. I feel bad for the boy, but your presence is more enjoyable." 

"Fucking, okay fine-" Levi sighed herself off the bed, and let Artezia lead her to the living room. As soon as she walked in, Leya dropped the mistletoe making her way over to Levi, purring loudly.

"Oh, she likes everyone in this house aside for me." He rolled his eyes and made his way to the mistletoe, picking it up and letting it float to the ceiling, watching it hang itself. 

Levi picked up the cat, cradling her in her arms and scritching under her chin. 

"Do you still need me or did you bring me here just to show off your magic." 

Artezia's smirk remained, but his eyebrows shot up. 

"What do you take me for, my dear Miss L. I asked you out here for multiple reasons. The first one, of course, that...uh, very kind cat, and second… The Tree. The Christmas Tree. I don't celebrate it, Christmas. Mostly because of my birthday. I think it's stupid. However I know multiple people in this house do celebrate it. So they deserve to have a tree. Now, will you please help me with this? Unfortunately I've never done this, so I need help." Of course, spending most of his life on the streets, and then having to celebrate the end of the year by putting on shows for gape-mouthed onlookers left him with little to no understanding of Christmas. It was a foreign concept to him. A time of happiness, when people have to be nice to each other, even if just conditioned. It is a start, he thought, but he knew that regardless of the implications of "having to be good," nobody actually WAS good. Nobody cared. People will always be hungry animals, clawing at each other's throats for every little crumb of validation, money or power they might get. He hated humans, but he hated suffering even more. Which is why he agrees with Christmas, as he understood it, anyway. He didn't know about the baby Jesus. Nor did he care. 

"Jee, okay. Well, bring the beast out. Let's see what tree you picked." At that Artezia nodded, a rather big pine flowing into the living room, and propping itself in the corner, in perfect view to anyone that came in.

"Will this one work?" He asked, proud of the tree he picked. 

"Holy fuck, where did you find that thing?? Does Vezuvia even have these kinds of trees?" Levi looked at it, mouth agape. 

"I don't s'ppose they do. It cost someone a trip to the south to fetch this bad boy. Thank Nuel for helping with setting it up." He lined a bunch of decorations on the table, all made of silver, gold and glass. All painted beautifully. "And also thank Nuel for sending us some decorations from the palace. Nadia also helped, which, we should thank Samuel for. He's the one that sneaked all of these out of the palace from under Lucio's nose. Who was kept busy by London." He looked at Levi, handing her a globe. "We made a whole plan to be able to get these. Don't let them go to waste.~" He picked one for himself, and placed it in the front of the tree. 

"Fuck, okay, didn't know James Bond was in town. Why didn't y'all invite me? I have my shadows, you know?" She started decorating. 

"I personally wanted to surprise you. I'm still not sure if I failed or not." He chuckled, wrapping tinsel around the tree. 

She scoffed, simply punching him playfully in the shoulder. 

"Fuckface." 

"Oh, sorry, L, did you say something? I didnt hear you quite clearly." 

"Yeah, whatever you say, Arty." Now it was Levi who smirked. 

Artezia simply paused, his eyebrows twitching together. His right eye also twitched. 

"Not during the holidays." He smiled. "Let's just make this tree look as good as us." He winked at her, and continued decorating. As time went on, the tree filled with all sorts of decorations, some more exotic, some more local each one placed nicely in the tree. Including some small sculpted figurines, in the form of everyone's familiars. All that was left was the star. 

"Now, the star. Levi, will you do the honors?" 

She smirked again.

"Why, because I'm taller than you?" 

"Why, yes. Because you are taller than me." Artezia blushed, crossing his arms after handing her the star. Star which was something he made. It was thrumming with powerful magic in Levi's hands, glowing faintly in reaction to her shadows. After planting it on top of the tree, Levi came down with a soft "oof". 

Little did she know, she was right under the mistletoe Artezia placed earlier. 

"Beautiful." The man said, looking at Levi rather than the tree. And eagerly closing the place between them, he kissed her on the cheek. He could only chuckle at the blush spreading upon Levi's face, and brace for impact at the elbow fast approaching him. He slid out of the way of the incoming impact, but she was quicker, her knee meeting with his stomach. He doubled over, hugging himself, on his knees, and looking up at her. He wheezed.

He smiled through the pain, helping himself on the table and standing up. 

"Watch the tree." He said, biting his lip. The tree lit up with small specks of light that surrounded it, coming from the star on top. They all sparkled faintly in the light of the living room. But come nightfall, they would give enough light to illuminate the whole tree. 

"Holy shit Arty- that's- wow. Fuck you." 

"What a way to thank me." He smiled again. "A lot of thing went wrong in my life. But you're the one thing that went right. Thank you for being here. And helping me, even though you didn't want to." He looked at her, something fond in his eyes. "You truly are the best." 

"Oh, fuck off." She said, pulling him into a hug. 

"Hm, no. I don't think I will." He replied, hugging her back. 

(WELL HERE WE ARE. IM SORRY I SLACKED OFF ON THIS. AND I AM ALSO SORRY FOR IT BEING UTTERLY SHIT. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS @trash-onthe-inside !!!! YOU ARE B A B Y TODAY, NO MORE GREMLIN, SO TAKE THIS FLUFF. YOU DESERVE IT.♡♡♡♡

-V. Brooks🌌)

[badbucky]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEYA 💗💗💗💗💗 ILYSM AND I HOPE UR DAY IS SUPER EPIC AND THAT U GET TO EAT SOME GOOD CAKE !!! U DESERVE ALL THE GOOD THINGS AND U'VE MADE SUCH A GREAT EFFECT ON MY LIFE AND IM SO THANKFUL FOR U COS UR AN AMAZING PERSON AND FRIEND ILYSM 💗💗 (ur gift is in progress cos i cant manage time lmao sometime today tho 💗💗)

AAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAAAAA mj, babeeey!!! 💓

thank u so much!! i love you so so so so much and i’m so thankful to have someone like you in my life!!! i love you! 😩👏🏼💞💗💘💖

[littlemorsel56]

My Bloody Bunny Oc Info

(No, I didn’t draw this. I used Picrew)

Name: Cora Shell

Nickname: Fawn, Sweetie, Klutz, Firefly, Baka

Gender: Female

Family Members: Mother (Helen Shell, Alive), Father (Unkown)

Appearance/Outfit: Plain grey shirt, blue Neko (cat ears) zip-up hoodie, long black jean pants, and black tennis shoes.

Eye Color: Green

Age: 16

Skin: Brown

Hair: Long black hair, straight

Relationships:

Dark Rabbit: Cora is shy and scared around him, but still nice and kind to him (Even when he tries to kill her). She becomes very nervous and awkward whenever he looks at her or talks to her. She's unsure about him protecting her whenever there's danger around in the corner, but she lets it go and allow him too. She's happy to have him around, but also nervous when she found out she has a crush on him later on.

Leya Tree: She never imagines having a crazy friend like Leya. Sure she could be dangerous but she's also nice and got Cora's back whenever she needs help. At first, Cora thought she was a psychopath until she mentions her favorite childhood movie, and Cora instantly wants to become best friend with her. She isn't bothered by Leya's cyborg arm, her hacking abilities, or her being number one wanted by the government...Actually, she's bothered by the last one.

Helen Shell (Mother): She doesn't see her mother a lot due to working with Cruella, but she always calls her to let her mother know she's safe and that she still loves her. She began to notice her saying she's been a terrible mother over and over again when her father mysterious disappear. When her mother is having a crying breakdown, she or Cruella will comfort her.

Cruella Ice: Cora is one hundred percent positive that Cruella hate's her but cares for her mother. She doesn't know why. Every time she tries to be nice to her, Cruella would either tell her to go away or secretly give's her a killer look.

Info: Cora Shell is a simple shy teenager who doesn't want to fight or being mean to anyone. She has a kind heart and willing to help anyone in need, but now her life is difficult now when she rescued Dark Rabbit and appears to be a target by someone she never met. What make's matter worse is when she first attack and tasted one of the people who try to kidnap her, she began's to be afraid of herself.

____________________________________________________________

Before asking, yes, I did copy and past all of this and yes she’s human. If you still confused what’s going on with my Oc, here’s a link to my story if you like to read or not. 

Just A Normal (Killer) Doll 

Also, I don’t know if this important or not ( I don’t know), but my birthday is coming up on Valentine's day. 

Update: There’s a website called Picrew and it’s amazing. And I thought why not show her what she looks like.

[androgymuse-blog]

So... it’s already July 4 on my side of the world...

We know what that means...

(Alright, alright. Advanced Happy Independence Day, USA!)

In order to chaotically celebrate the special day of and my love for a certain star-spangled man with a plan, I started the day by going to the gym. My knees were not particularly happy with it because of pain, but why not have stubbornness as part of the celebration, right? 

I already feel the repercussions of my decision as I type. Lol.

Then, there’s breakfast. For those who know me and my trashy self, it’s obvious why I chose to eat here. Of course, there’s the fact that it’s the only place open at an early hour. Pretend that’s part of the reason and the whole thing wasn’t planned. At all. 

I even brought my white, red and blue tumbler. With stars. Shooting stars. And a boat sailing. Lol. 

Note: Assume that the drink inside the tumbler is Amerciano. Just for a moment.

For dessert. A caramel cheesecake. I really didn’t want to buy nor eat a cake. Yet it happened. Don’t really know why it happened. 

This might also be a good time to confess that the drink I ordered was Caramel Macchiato. 

Caramel Cheesecake + Caramel Macchiato? Not gonna repeat. There are regrets. Another bad decision.

Lessons learned: Avoid bad decisions. No more spontaneous celebrations. Will plan next time. Lol.

✪ ★ ☆ Happy Birthday, Steven Grant Rogers! ☆ ★ ✪

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

except for Old Man/Endgame Steve

[dprwolfgang]

Light Down Low // Jay Park Series

Happy birthday to this hardworking inspiration.We know you don’t know what a break is but I hope you had an incredimazable day and that you enjoyed it to the fullest.

14. Wine Slow.

“Family Vacation?”  

“Yeah,he’s off school for two weeks and it’s Hawaii. You can bring Ronnie and his fam along too.Its been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

“Are you forgetting that you start tour soon? You don’t have time. I don’t have time.We have to get these tracks finished and your girl gon throw a tantrum if she knows what you’re up too.”

“She’s gonna be in California for Coachella along with some other things and I know that your boyfriend is gonna be away for games so really it’s a win win situation.” He states. “Please Leya,I know we have a lot of work to do and I promise not to play around if you agree."

It's not that bad of an idea,the shows were days apart and then the other week Kai was heading to Cali with Ronnie and Jas while we worked.What's the worst that can happen?

"Fine,because we both know you won't leave me alone until I agree to this.I'm working choreography with Hyolyn today so you're working out the technicalities of this family vacation as you call it as well as picking Kai up from school and taking him to your parents before bringing your ass back here to record the vocals." Jay salutes at me before I pick up my bag and leave his office,heading down to the dancehall to meet up with Hyolyn.

---

What's the worst that can go wrong?

"You planned this didn't you?" I point to Jay accusingly.

"How is it my fault that they don't have enough rooms? I'm not telepathic, I can't read minds." Somewhere in the corner Ronnie snickers and I turn my glare towards him.

"What's so funny Ron?"

"Oh c'mon Leya.You're behaving like you both have never shared a room before."He says slinging an arm over my shoulder,pulling me close to him."Let's not give the people a hard time,with all of the crew he has working,it's understandable that they're overbooked." He says innocently before leaning into me and whispering in my ear. "Everything's fine that is…until you jump him."

"Ronnie!" Jas smacks him in the chest before I could."Leave ya sister alone boy,I'm sure she can control those hormones." She teases and I remove myself from Ronnie's arms,sticking both middle fingers up at them.

"I swear you both are annoying as fuck."

"but you love us," they say simultaneously.The show was in five hours and I am so not in the mood to deal with these two.Given the fact that Gregory behaved like a bitch about the entire situation and we weren't on speaking terms,Jay's girl apparently gave him an earful as well before she left,so all in all we were both a bit on the grumpy side.

"We gotta go get ready for the show,take care of my baby." I say to them both,leaving Kai with a kiss on his forehead before heading over to Jay who was waiting on me.

"If you really don't wanna room with me,I'll just crash with one of the guys or something.I think Shawn and Austin got space."

"Look,about that…I'm sorry.I didn't mean for it to come out that way.I don't have a problem rooming with you.I'm just grumpy because I fought with Gregory before we left and I'm hungry."

"So we good?" He smiles at me.

"Yeah we good,just as long you get me food." I smile back at him.

---

"Sooo how are we doing this?" Jay and I both ask each other as we stared at the bed.It's almost 2am and we're trying to figure out who's sleeping where.

"you've got shows and interviews,so you need your sleep and the couch isn't gonna give you that so I'll crash there seeing as Youjin gets in tomorrow and I don't gotta dance anymore."

“Leya you know you don’t have to sleep on the couch,”

“I’ve slept on a couch before Jay.It’s fine.” I cut him off.

“Would you stop cutting me off? Wait when did you sleep on a couch and we can share the bed.It’s big enough and I promise I won’t touch you.Trust me.”

“After we broke up and I went back to L.A and trust me it’s not you that I don’t trust,” I mumble the last part to myself.If he heard me then he acted like he didn’t because he’s shifting pillows and making a wall down the middle of the bed.

“See problem solved,now get in and get some sleep.We got a long day ahead.” Jay says before he gets in on his side.Arms crossed behind his head, he looks at me expectedly. “Leya get in the damn bed before I put you in it.”

“Fine,fine.”  

— Day 3  

Today has been quite eventful.Jay rented a yacht and we spent most of the day at sea.Kai had a blast and to be honest that’s all that really matters.Gregory still wasn’t speaking to me and neither was Jay’s girl speaking to him but we decided not to let that dampen the mood.

Kai and Mimi knocked out right after dinner with Jas and Ron opting to stay in while Jay and I got some work done.

“Bum,c’mon.” I whine.We are currently sitting in the now empty rehearsal space trying to get another track down and he won’t stop goofing off.

“We been at this for hours Leya,we both know that we aren’t getting anymore done tonight.Pack up and come dance with me.” He says.He had a point,given the amount of time I’ve been working with Jay I knew we weren’t getting anything done if he wasn’t feeling it and right now all he wanted to do was dance.

“No thank you,” I reply while packing my equipment away.

“You’re behaving like we haven’t danced together before.”

Again he has a point but I know Jay and I know myself.Dancing is our thing.

“The last time I danced with you we ended up with Kai.”

“That was years ago though,aren’t we friends Leya?”  

“Yeah,but…”

“No buts.It’s just two friends having fun.” He says before he’s pulling me by my hands to stand in front of the mirrors.Once the beat starts and I recognize the song I immediately try to back out but he isn’t having any off that.Jay’s arms wrap around my waist holding me in place.His eyes lock on mine in the mirror and he leans in close to my ear. “I hope you remember the moves.”  

Sweaty,pushed up against the mirror with Jay behind me.Fingers interlocked with mine,head tucked into my neck as the song started again.

“Leya,” he mumbles and I can feel his breath tickle my skin.

“Hmmm,” I hum back to afraid to use my words.

“Tell me to stop,”

“We..we should probably…stooooppp,” the last part comes out as a moan as Jay presses his lips to my neck.His lips trail up my neck and across my jaw before he’s spinning me.Both hands above my head trapped in one of Jay’s while the other travels down to my waist and over the curve of my ass as he cups a feel of the flesh.

“We really should stop,” he whispers,lips hovering over mine.

“Yeah,we should..” I mumble before capturing his lips with mine.Call me naïve,call me stupid but I was through denying myself of Jay.No matter how much we tried to convince ourselves that we’re just friends,just co-parents to Kai,we know that there’s underlying tension.

Breaking your hands free from Jay’s hold, you kiss along his jawline and to his neck.Fingers running along his clothed chest as you slowly sink to your knees before him.His body shook in anticipation as you palmed him through his sweats,pushing his shirt up and licking a broad stripe up his stomach.

For some reason Mia didn’t like giving head so he never really pushed for it.She didn’t like a lot of shit so he settled for what he got and seeing you so eager and ready has him twitching in your grasp. You pull his length free from its confines,looking at him as it rests against your cheek.

You lick up and down the underside of his shaft before wrapping your lips around his tip and sucking hard.

“Fuckkk,baby,” Jay groans gripping a handful of your hair and tugging your head backwards.He leans down and presses a kiss to your lips before he directing your head back to his leaking tip. “Open up and stick your tongue out.”

You do as asked and Jay grips his cock and guides it into the awaiting wet,warmth that is your mouth.Hands behind your back,you keep your mouth open as he uses your mouth for his pleasure,just the way you know he likes it.Somewhere in the back of both y’all minds you both know that y’all shouldn’t be doing this but neither gave a single fuck. You can tell his orgasm is near as you feel him pulse when he buries his cock down your throat and you swallow around him.Jay’s quick to pull out and lower himself onto the floor,pulling you on to his lap.

Jay was thankful you wore a skirt because lord knows he didn’t have the patience to deal with pants today. You waste no time sliding your panty to the side and aligning his dick with your entrance before you’re sliding down on him until he bottoms out.

Hands gripping onto the flesh of your ass cheeks,you start a slow bounce,picking up the pace every time you rise until just the tip is in then sinking back down onto him.From this angle Jay had a perfect view of the way his dick slid in and out of your wet cunt as well as the way your face contorted in pleasure in the mirrors on the opposite side of the room.

Jay knows that your close,so is he but he needs you to get it first but with the way your walls are gripping and clenching around him,he feels like he’ll bust at any moment.Forehead resting against his,he slips a hand between both your bodies and goes straight for your clit.Your body arches into his as you come undone with a scream of his name.He helps you ride out your high before he’s getting to his feet and holding you up against the mirrors.

Legs wrapped tightly around his waist he fucks into you rapidly and sloppily until your nails are digging into the fabric of his shirt and his neck is hidden in your neck as he buries himself deep in you,coating your walls with long ropes of his his warm seed.

He pulls out once he catches his breath and puts your feet on the ground.No words are spoken as he fixes your panty back in place and you tuck him back into his boxers and pull his pants back up.

“Can we order room service when we get back?”  

Jay nods before kissing me.Both his hands grabbing onto my ass.A slight moan escapes my mouth before he’s tugging on my bottom lip,licking it in the process. He pulls away before I could deepen the kiss.

“Let’s go.” He says grabbing our bags and leading me out of the building.

—

I woke up the following morning to Jay’s head under the covers and between my legs. I know I should regret this but I can’t find in me to stop.My body’s so in tuned with Jay’s that it’s like we’re connecting for the first time all over again and if I’m being completely honest… I haven’t felt this good in years nor in the months that I’ve been with Gregory.

"Go shower,we have places to be.” I say to him once he comes up from under the covers.I honestly thought he’d change his mind but judging by the smirk on his face, I know exactly what idea came to mind as he lifted me and threw me over shoulder softly smacking my ass as he walked to the bathroom.

"Jay put me down."

"Nahh,we got places to be.Save water,shower together." He turns on the shower before putting me down on the counter and stepping in between my legs. He kisses my cheek down to my neck,my legs tightened around his waist pulling him closer when he bit down and sucked on a sweet spot.

My hands made work of his clothes the same way his did mine throwing them haphazardly on the bathroom floor.Lifting me up, he carries us both into the shower.Back up against the wall as we kissed under the water while rolling his hips against mine.My hand reaches up and let his hair out the tie as he teased me by putting just the tip in.

"Jaebum I swear now is not the time for teasi-" my back arched against the wall as I get cut off.Jay pushing his entire length into my awaiting heat in one quick stroke.Nails scratching at his back,my lips worked his neck leaving a trail of purple marks as I went.  

—

Jay  

I knew she wasn't a virgin but the way her walls wrapped around my dick gripping me tightly has me just about ready to bust.Had me wondering if homeboy even knew what he was doing with her body.

Her moans filled the bathroom along with the slapping sound of our skin as I deep stroked her pulling out till only the tip was left in then driving right back in.Her legs began to shake in my arms,I let her down turning her around to face the now fogged up shower door. I got in between her legs from behind bending her over both her hands on the glass door as I held onto her waist with one hand while the other fisted in her hair,pulling as I rocked in and out of her roughly.

"Fuck,daddy!! shitttt right there..." she moaned out the rest of her sentences coming out in Spanish.

Her walls clenched around my dick tightly as she screamed out."shit stop before you make me squirt.” As those words left her lips I couldn't help the smirk that graced my lips as I sped up knowing exactly what was about to happen. I could feel my balls tighten as I continued hitting it hard. I hit one particular spot and her entire body became undone as her legs shook uncontrollably as she squirted all over my dick,her pussy squeezing the fuck out of my dick,triggering my own release. I held onto her waist tightly releasing into her as we both rode out the high we were on.

We washed up well more like I washed us up because Leya kept dozing off in the shower."Come on ma keep them eyes open." I coaxed her as I slipped one of my shirts over her head onto her body before changing into some three quarter sweatpants.By the time I returned from the bathroom Leya was out like a light cuddling a pillow.Sliding in next to her and removing the pillow replacing it with my body.I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my social accounts before checking my dm’s on Instagram and stumbling upon something that I’d suspected for a while but had no proof.

We still had a couple of hours left before we had to head down for breakfast and so placing my phone on the bedside table, I cuddle into her body and close my eyes.

—

“Mia,” I call out as I enter my apartment.Her bags where by the door so I know she’s here and hopefully she won’t hate my ass for what I’m about to do.

“Mia..”

“I’m in here.” I follow her voice to my bedroom and what I see has everything I planned on from the drive from the airport stuck in my throat.This has got to be some sick form of karma.

“Surprise!” She says all excited as she gets off the bed and makes her way over to me.

“Is this for real? You not playing with me right?”  

“It is.I’m not.We’re gonna have a baby.” She smiles and presses a kiss to my lips.

Fuckkkk! How the hell was I supposed to handle this? I’m this close to getting Leya back and now this. I couldn’t leave Mia now,not like this. I already messed up when Leya was pregnant and I refuse to let another child of mine grow without me.

—

“Greg??” I call out once I step into the apartment.Most of the lights are off with the exception of the light in the hallway and that’s when I notice the flower petals lining the floor. I swear this motherfucker better not have some bitch in my apartment.Kai was with Ronnie until next week and right now I couldn’t be more happy,just in case I had to drag two hoes.

Upon entering my bedroom I’m frozen in my tracks at the image before me.Greg on his knees in the middle off a circle made out of candles and the words ‘marry me’ spelt out with flower petals.

Overwhelmed and shocked I bolt towards my bathroom door and lock it behind me once I enter.Pulling my phone out my bag, I quickly dial Jay’s number only to get his voicemail. I keep trying until it finally picks up.

“Jay-” I start but stop at the words that I hear next.

“So you’re definitely pregnant? I’m gonna be a dad?” I hear him ask and she says yes.

She’s pregnant? Does he know she’s been sleeping with Greg? Is he even going to believe me if I tell him? He’s already ignoring me so I guess he’s made his choice.Hanging up the phone, I open the door and slowly step out into the bedroom.Jay’s made his choice and now I have to make mine.

Greg looks up from his place on the edge of my bed with a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry.. I”

—

“Kai,you coming to dance with us today?” Chase asks as they eat lunch.

“I can’t,it’s ma’s rehearsal dinner tonight.”

“What for?”  

“She’s marrying Greg.” He replies with a roll of his eyes and Chase almost chokes on the water in his mouth as his eyes drift to Jay.

It’s been about six months since Jay has seen you. He wanted to talk to you but he had a feeling that you already knew what was up and that’s why you took your piled up vacation days. He however, was not expecting this. You were getting married to the man that is the father of Mia’s baby.Did you know they’d been sleeping with each other? Would you even believe him if he told you now? Why would you? You’d probably think he was just trying to ruin your relationship? Why didn’t he just break up with Mia that day and come back to you? Why didn’t he just answer his phone when you’d call? Maybe then he wouldn’t be sitting here feeling like shit and you both would be happy.

It was too late for all that now.He had to live with the fact that you’re getting married to the man that’s the father of his ‘girlfriend’s’ baby and that he was stuck with said girlfriend.

Both hearts knew where they wanted to be but the truth is Jay couldn’t find it in him to strip you of that happiness so in the end you both end up without each other.

The end.

[vippix]

#HappyBirthday Princess Leya ::: :: : #VIPPix #RunThisJungle #PhotoShoot #childmodel #child #birthday #seatheme #underwater #underwatertheme #shells #baloons #mermaid #DIY #caribbean #Vincy #vincentian #childphotography #familyphotography #three #3 #happy #canon5dmarkiv #canon #canon70200mm #godox #godoxad400 #offcameraflash #ofc #colors https://www.instagram.com/p/CFS3KxJlk_y/?igshid=1j8ufztezckcu

[iyikidogdunneslihanatagul]

Today it's August 20 and guess what? its your birthdayyyyyy ! I wish you a very very happy happy birthday Neslihan !!! I wish you lots of happiness, love, success, luck ,and a good health ! You deserve all best things in life!!! I also wanna congratulate you for being such a great actress ! You're such a wonderful person neslihan. Everyday you make us speechless with your acting. Thank you so much for making us smile everyday! You're also such a cute human being with a hypnotizing smile🥺❤️... I wish I can meet you one day and tell you how much I love and admire you 🌎💘. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AGAIN💗💗💗💗💗💗. HAVE A BLAST !!!! Know that I’m one of your biggest fans and that I love u a lot .... (Leya, instagram: neslihan.queen11, Turkey / Lebanon )

[helpfromheaven]

I am not a photographer, but I wanted to participate in this challenge, to present what happiness means to me.

Happiness means being with family, especially new members like great-grandchildren. Below are four generations together on my birthday.

Happiness is traveling the world with my husband, an adventurer if ever there was one. Thank God for Internet dating. 14 years and headed for til death due us part.

  Happiness is standing on the beach looking at the ocean or sea and realizing just how small your problems are. The vastness of the ocean amazes me, as you cannot see it all.

    Happiness is visiting ruins and churches when traveling the world that helps us appreciate the continuity of life and that problems really do pass.

    Happiness is spending hours in museums appreciating art and knowledge from centuries ago and thanking God for giving humans the talent to create art and knowledge that touch other people’s souls and remind us of our shared humanity.

  Happiness is a good meal that nourishes our bodies as God’s love nourishes our souls.

Lastly, happiness is walking in nature and thanking God for the beauty around us, for colors that make flowers so vibrant, they mend our broken spirits.

  Happiness, ultimately, is about appreciating the grace and mercy of God that allows us to live life to the fullest, enjoying all that brings smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts. I wish you all much happiness!

Written for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge posted by Leya: Happiness is.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge 22: Happiness Is I am not a photographer, but I wanted to participate in this challenge, to present what happiness means to me.

[firedupluz-blog]

Happiness was an elusive beast as far as Luz Desai was concerned, particularly on a day like today. It had been well over 10 years since a freak accident fire took her little sister’s life, but Leya’s birthday was a solemn day for Luz even now. On this occasion, she sought to bury her feelings of sadness and anger in work. It was more cost-effective than therapy, she figured. She was relieved almost when the fire bell sounded; she was already poised for action, seated in the truck in anticipation of a call. She quietly toyed the pendant of her necklace, a sweet sixteen gift from Leya that she never took off, as the truck barreled down the street toward North End. She pulled on her turnout pants and coat and was first out of the truck when they arrived at the scene of what she’d been informed was a small electrical fire. “Got it.” It was a warning as much as anything for the other guys to fall back and let her handle this one; her own personal score to settle that wouldn’t really settle anything. She took the stairs up to the apartment indicated and spotted a man who she presumed was the inhabitant in the hall. “Hey. Which room?”  she asked, pulling her gloves on. @elijah-parrish