This is the promised one shot. I'm sorry it took me so long to finish. I just haven't felt happy with this. I hope it makes you smile regardless of its deficits. Enjoy! (Also reviews and polite prompt requests make me a lot more likely to write for the fandom again sooner rather than later.)
The car is silent except except the rhythmic hum of the tires on the pavement and the muffled sounds of the radio. Nancy Drew is the kind of woman who lives for adventure and intrigue, but this silence is oddly comforting. It feels peaceful, calming her from the inside out.
Nancy's life may look perfect and easy from the outside, but it's not. One of her greatest afflictions is insomnia—she often can't calm her restless, easily agitated mind and heart. She claims she doesn't need much sleep. That is a half truth. She may need less sleep than most people, but she still walks under the perpetual haze of tiredness that sometimes borders on exhaustion. She tries to sleep; she really does, but she's always up a couple times a night. She doesn't settle down easily either especially in the daytime.
Perhaps it's the peaceful atmosphere or the perpetual motion of the car, but Nancy feels that she might be able to sleep. She puts her seat down halfway and leans her head against it and closes her eyes. Regardless of whether she'll be able to sleep, she treasures the feelings of comfort and safety she finds right now with Joe Hardy at her side. Knowing she can trust him with everything—her life, her heart, and her future—fills her with warmth and peace. She is truly the luckiest girl.
Joe Hardy is not a consolation prize, and Nancy would pay any price for everyone to know that. She's not dating him because she's always wanted to be part of the Hardy family or she needs a husband who is a detective. No, Nancy's dating Joe because it's the right thing and nothing else ever will be. Why wouldn't she be with him when he's the only answer to the question of how the indomitable Nancy Drew will settle down without feeling chained down?
Nancy and the Hardy boys had been slumber party gossip fodder for as long as she could remember. She had no doubt it was partly fueled by jealousy. Who else had two boys who were such a catch right at their fingertips? When their dads were best friends and their lives mirrored each other, it was only natural to assume that Nancy and a Hardy boy were meant to be.
Emphasis on Hardy boy, Frank Hardy was too perfect to let slip by if you had half a chance. He had a brilliant mind and strong work ethic and oozed stability. He was the kind of guy the other girls were looking to marry. Only they knew he'd never go for a girl like them at least not in a world where there were Nancys. Surely he'd chose someone clever and resourceful with a quick, logical mind that could keep up with his own.
Joe at ten months younger than Nancy was the little brother. There was nothing wrong with him; he was just a little rough around the edges. The same daring that made him balk at nothing on a case looked like recklessness when it showed up in his personal life. He could be a little bit irresponsible when it came to schoolwork or have trouble settling down and following through with plans. And he was a bit of a hothead even though he had a heart of gold. No one had any doubt of what he could become especially with Nancy's constant guidance and support, but no one had ever put any money on Joe. Nancy would date Frank.
No one had understood when Nancy had started dating Ned Nickerson in eighth grade when Frank Hardy was still single. Ned was a good guy—you couldn't argue with that. But he wasn't Frank, and the differences were of the sort that made everyone believe him inferior—everyone except Nancy that is. She could see that he was a dreamer with clear ambitions and that he knew how she'd fit into them even at the tender age of thirteen. Besides, he saw her for who she wanted to be graceful and charming—a girl's girl.
Ned might be her boyfriend, but that didn't mean that she didn't still see Frank. She and Frank (and Joe) were a team and took on cases together whenever they could. They were the dream team, and nothing could separate them. Working cases with Frank, she was always struck by how their brains seemed one and the same. It was like they were mental soulmates—one half of a brain designed to work together.
But it wasn't like everyone imagined. She wasn't daydreaming about him breaking up with Callie, and he wasn't wishing she were single. They were just friends and knew that they always would be. Frank's heart had found its home with Callie just as Nancy's had with Ned, and they knew even if they were both single they wouldn't date each other.
But there were those moments when Nancy wondered if all of that was real. She would look at Frank and feel these less than platonic feelings for a split second. Besides, she could never get away from the almost magnetic pull between them. No matter what, Nancy was never not thinking about impressing Frank. Maybe it was simply because she could and impressing him generally wasn't an easy feat. She wasn't really sure. All she knew was that his logical mind naturally admired the thoughts and conclusions of her own and that she couldn't get enough of it. There were a few times she'd sworn off his approval, but she was as hooked as if it were the most addictive drug on the market and was back before she'd even given it a halfhearted try.
Looking back, Nancy can see that the trouble started the day Ned first mentioned staying in Boston. She had been fine with him moving there for college. His dream school was there, and it wasn't like she couldn't hack long distance. After all, she and Ned were used to busy schedules and dates being few and far between. If said dates had to be a video call, they were no worse for the wear especially when Ned came home for weekends whenever he could. Nancy had always assumed that Ned would move back to New York after college. New York was home and a great place to find a job. Instead, he talked about taking a position at the firm where he had interned. She felt a twinge of worry over how it would all work out but decided not to dwell on it. They would make it work like they always had.
That fall, Ned proposed. It was a beautiful proposal and one that she had always thought she would accept. But it came with the understanding that she would come with him to Boston; and as much as she loved him, she knew she couldn't do that.
For everything she was unsure of, Nancy knew her life lay in being a detective in New York. She couldn't imagine doing anything else when her brain lived for the puzzle of a difficult case. Without the thrill of an unsolved mystery, she found life rather boring. Her tenacity and independence suited her well for the hardships of a detective's life, and her background as a lawyer's daughter gave her unique insights into the world of crime and justice.
Ever since she had met the Hardys, Nancy had been working with them on cases. At first, it was just fun ones like the case of the missing cookies, but they had been doing real detective work together for years now. Working with Frank and Joe had always sharpened her instincts and pushed her to develop her skills as a detective. Given that it was the same way for Frank and Joe, it was only natural that the three of them would want to start a firm together. For the last few years, they had been making plans for how to get their firm off the ground. Nancy would study law, Frank business and criminal justice, Joe forensic science. Together, they would become one of the greatest investigative teams the world had ever seen. Perhaps they would someday spread their wings-they weren't committing to forever, but they knew starting together is where they needed to be.
When Ned said Boston, he was talking about putting down roots. If they did that, Nancy would never get back to New York to work with the Hardys. She had never felt more conflicted in her life. She loved Ned and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him but not at the cost of everything else in life. Nancy spent two sleepless nights pondering, wrestling, looking for a way around the dilemma. But there was none. Ned was committed to Boston, and she knew she needed to stay in New York. So she broke it off even though her heart was hurting. They had been together for so long, but she was deeply aware that saying yes would be wrong.
After the breakup, Nancy was sure what everyone would think—that it was a last ditch effort to get with Frank. That wasn't it at all, but none of her other excuses would ever sound valid. Who would believe that she couldn't move to Boston because of needing to work with the Hardys without thinking that that meant Frank? They were wrong, but how could she explain it? She needed to be with Frank but just like she needed to be with Joe—as a colleague and friend. It didn't help things when Frank proposed to Callie a few months later. Nancy's friends who were sure she was heartbroken rallied around her with tissue boxes and cartons of Ben and Jerry's. She wasn't sure how to set the record straight and convince them she was really fine. Frank was happier than he had been in years, and she was enjoying meeting new guys. How was that not fine?
Nancy kept dating through law school, but it wasn't serious like it had been with Ned. At the time, she blamed it on her busy schedule and the way her mind was completely consumed by assignments and due dates. But it had way more to do with doubts—doubts that started with believing that the detective's life wasn't well suited to a relationship and grew into believing that she wasn't well suited for a relationship. She just wasn't girlfriend material and would become the perennial spinster like Hannah and her Aunt Eloise. But that was okay she reasoned when she'd become the world's best detective, a heck of a single woman.
They opened Hardy-Drew Investigators right after she graduated just like they'd planned, and Nancy was in heaven. Instead of having to impress her professors with her research prowess and writing skills, she got to do cases full time with some of her favorite people in the world. It didn't get much better than that.
It was disappointing to all of them when they didn't get any exciting cases the first year just smuggling and stalkers and missing objects. The cases that they did get came from people they knew in Bayport and River Heights. They were so much less than thrilled. Still, small cases were better than no cases, so they took turns sharing the multiple hour drives out of the city.
It was on one of these drives back to the city that it first occurred to Nancy that she hadn't really known Joe before this. Sure, she had known him as the younger Hardy boy who she could trust with her life but as a person not so much. They had worked together for years, but they both almost always worked with Frank not each other. Years of brotherhood gave Frank and Joe practical telepathy, and she and Frank thought so similarly they could leave much unsaid. When the three of them were together, she had always been so distracted by listening to Frank, understanding Frank, and impressing Frank that whatever Joe was saying just had sounded like background noise.
But that was changing now. Frank was married to Callie, so whenever cases allowed he wanted to spend his evenings at home with her. Joe and Nancy worked late together because they would rather not get up early and went out after work for midnight snacks on a regular basis. She could honestly count Joe one of her friends now, and she was glad about that. Talking to him didn't flow like it did with Frank; she couldn't anticipate his every move, but he was fun and interesting to talk to and made her laugh.
They were all relieved when Ian Shelton called them to investigate his missing granddaughter. Maybe they could finally put the simple cases behind them and make a name for themselves doing big, important stuff. Nancy was so excited to get that case, but it turned out to be misery when she and Joe couldn't decide what to do and Frank insisted that they do everything together. Eventually, she stubbornly decided to sneak off to snoop at Adelina's penthouse where she was confronted by Adelina's brother who tied her to a chair and ran his hand down her front. The case wrapped up quickly after that, but it left damage in its wake.
Joe found out about what had happened to Nancy when she testified against Adelina's brother Michael. She had been hoping to keep what had happened to herself, but the case required it, and Nancy would do anything to help poor Monique who had already suffered enough being kidnapped. It made sense that Joe would be angry; she was one of his best friends and had been preyed on by a disgusting man. But Nancy was opposed to it on principle; she wasn't a fragile helpless creature. No, she had been the one to escape and save herself from the cruel fate Michael had planned for her. Joe wasn't the dashing swashbuckling hero, wouldn't have been even had he been there. Michael had a gun, and there was nothing Joe could have done about that unarmed. At least, nothing Nancy hadn't done.
The case brought business to Hardy-Drew Investigators, but that just made Nancy more miserable. Seeing Joe's sad eyes grated on her nerves. Soon, she wasn't speaking to him except when cases required it. They managed to stumble through the next few months, and Nancy began to imagine things were calming down. One day, she received the shock of her life when Frank came into her office and announced that he had booked her counseling appointment because they simply could not go on like this. She was indignant. Even if he was right about the state of affairs, how dare he suggest it was all her fault?
Nancy eventually agreed to go—that had had everything to do with hearing that Frank had done exactly the same thing to Joe. Getting help totally turned things around. She got past her own feelings about what had happened and learned strategies for dealing with Joe. By the time they were done with their joint "coworker" sessions with her therapist, their relationship was on the road to repair. Heck, it was even better than it had ever been. In those sessions, she learned that Joe had always resented her relationship with Frank and the feeling that he was the perennial third wheel. She reassured him that no, she appreciated him as a person. She enjoyed his company, values his insights, and appreciated the lightness of his humor.
They began hanging out again—for afterwork midnight snacks and Saturday morning breakfasts and whatever else they felt like whenever they were free. One day, they were walking onto the subway headed back to her place when some lovely older woman made a comment about how they made such a lovely couple. They made instant eye contact and then quickly denied it. Glancing round afterwards, Nancy saw the condemning evidence—Joe's big hand in hers, her stance conveying perfect trust, and Joe's idiotic grin. In that moment, she finally noticed what she had missed for so many years—Joe Hardy was in love with her. She quickly dismissed him when they got to her apartment. She needed quiet to brew over and explore what she had just discovered.
Joe Hardy was in love with her? All her life, she had seen Joe as the little brother she had never had, and she had always assumed he felt the same way. He had after all dated Iola and then Vanessa. Wasn't that because he preferred them? But there had also been Ned—for so many years. Maybe Joe had simply given up and moved on. Come to think of it, she could remember things getting a little awkward the year he turned twelve. He had looked at her funny with this gleam of what she had told herself was admiration. Could he have loved her then? She wasn't sure about then, but all the signs about now pointed to yes. Frank looked out for her, but it was Joe who was hopelessly protective, who had fallen apart when she had suffered from the fallout of a case gone wrong. It wasn't Frank who was one of her oldest and dearest friends. It was Joe because he loved her. There was no other answer to these questions.
Nancy tried her best to not freak out as she began to explore her feelings. She liked Joe, yes. He was a good friend—kind and attentive always making her laugh and smile. Best of all, he made her feel safe, not because he was strong and adept at fighting, but because she could trust him. He accepted her completely. He admired her for everything she was not just on days where she felt like she wasn't a klutz. With Joe, she could be every inch the one and only Nancy Drew, and it was the most freeing thing ever. A week later, they were out at their favorite pizza place, and she asked him with an uncharacteristically shy smile if it could be a date. He said yes.
Here they are six months later, and Nancy still feels like it is the best case she has ever solved in her life—the case of Joe and Nancy's feelings. Being together is so right. Nancy had thought that when they started, and time has only proved her right. Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew were meant to be.
She opens her eyes—sleeping isn't in the cards at least for right now. When she looks over at Joe, he makes eye contact with her for a moment with the biggest grin on his face. Joe has always been an expressive person, and in moments, like these she feels struck again with his love for her. He adores her, and Nancy feels her heart overflowing with how much she loves him back. Joe is her Hardy boy, and that is the best thing that's ever happened.