A/N: I've been thinking that Jackson and Ramona would be really good together, so I decided to write a fic for them!
General Background Information: This is set during their senior year of high school, so they're around 17 years old. I thought it would be more appropriate for them to be a bit older. Also, Ramona dated Chad Brad Bradley (they broke up). This has not occurred on the show (at least as of right now), but for the purposes of this story, they did. Ramona's relationship with Popko is exactly the way it was in the show here (they dated but broke up because of what he said before she left for Japan). Jackson and Rocki were also in an "unlabeled" relationship for a while, but broke it off in the year prior to the story.
Chapter Background Information: The adults (DJ, Stephanie, Kimmy, Jimmy, Fernando, etc.) are on an "Adults' Night Out," leaving Ramona and Jackson to babysit Tommy. Max is at a sleepover with one of his friends.
That's about it, so enjoy the first chapter! And it's no biggie if you didn't read all that information/background regarding the story; you'll understand it just fine either way. I think that most things are explained (other than the Adults' Night Out thing, although I will be touching upon that in future chapters). Read and review!
CHAPTER 1: HOME ALONE
"This is the first time they've ever let me run things alone at home!" Jackson exclaimed excitedly and proudly.
Ramona rolled her eyes, "You're not really alone, Jackson. And you're not in charge, either. I'm pretty sure they know that out of the both of us, I'm the more responsible one. They so wouldn't have left just you home alone to take care of Tommy. You probably would've messed things up the second they walked out the door."
Jackson shrugged his shoulders, "Well, they left us alone with no adults. I mean, I'm gonna be going to college in the fall! Shouldn't they trust me to take care of things when I'm alone?"
"I'm not sure anyone thinks you're gonna make it alone in college," Ramona half-joked.
Jackson rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'm gonna put Tommy to sleep. It's already pretty late for him."
Ramona nodded her head, "Let me help you."
"No way!" he shook his head. "The Jackman has got this under control. Tommy's my brother... I think I know how to get him to sleep."
"Fine, but I'm staying right here... just in case you ruin everything, which wouldn't be very surprising, to be honest."
He ignored her comment before picking Tommy up from where he was previously sitting on the floor, playing with a toy car. Carefully, he carried Tommy to the race-car styled bed in his bedroom.
"I don't wanna go to sleep!" Tommy whined. "Let's watch a movie!"
"Sorry, little bro. Mom told me you've gotta be in bed by now. We already let you stay up later than you should've," Jackson reminded him. "Close your eyes, buddy. Try to go to sleep. If you do, maybe I'll convince Mom to get you ice cream tomorrow. How does that sound?"
"Ice cream?" Tommy echoed, grinning. "Promise?"
"Promise," Jackson nodded his head. He muttered under his breath, "Promise... to try."
Tommy smiled again, satisfied with the thought of getting ice cream tomorrow, then forced his eyes shut. He wasn't tired, but he'd try to sleep if it meant there would be ice cream tomorrow. When Jackson saw that Tommy's eyes were shut, he smiled proudly, smirking at Ramona. She thought he couldn't handle this on his own, but he could. He knew that he was capable.
The two of them left Tommy's room, switching off the lights and shutting the door so that Tommy could sleep.
"Not bad, but you really had to promise your brother ice cream to do it?" Ramona raised her eyebrows. "Most people wouldn't have made promises they don't know they can keep... and they'd opt for something easier like a bedtime story."
"Look, I'm sure my mom's gonna be cool with it. It's not like ice cream's that big of a deal!" Jackson told her. "Besides, Tommy's not a baby anymore. He's way too good for bedtime stories and baby things."
"Whatever," Ramona shrugged her shoulders. "What are we gonna do now?"
Jackson arched his eyebrows.
"Hmm... I dunno," he admitted. "When I thought about this night, I was so excited because I thought I'd be doing all this crazy stuff that I can't do when the adults are around. But now that we're actually here, I have no idea what I wanna do."
"Well, I guess I'm going to my room," Ramona excused herself, starting to turn around.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Jackson stopped her, grabbing her shoulder. "You're really just gonna ditch me like that? You know, 'your room' used to be 'my room.' It's only fair that you let me tag along."
Ramona rolled her eyes, "And why would you need to come to my room, Jackson?"
"Because I don't wanna be all alone. Please!" Jackson begged. "Come on... Max is at a sleepover, so I can't spend my time annoying him."
"Since when was Max your only companion?" she scoffed. "Don't you have your weird squad of dweebs that you met in your middle school summer school? What about Rocki?"
Jackson pressed his lips together, "They're not gonna come over right now, okay? Please, Ramona?"
"Fine, but I'm kicking you out if you're annoying," she gave in.
Jackson grinned. The two of them walked toward Ramona's room, stepping inside. Before Ramona could even do anything, Jackson hopped on to her bed, stretching his legs, sighing of relaxation. Ramona rolled her eyes.
"Glad you're making yourself comfortable..." she said sarcastically. She walked to her closet, grabbing a pair of shorts and a tank top to change into. "I'm gonna go to to the bathroom to change since you're... invading my room tonight."
Jackson kept laying back, relaxing in her room while she was changing in the bathroom. When she returned, Jackson finally opened his eyes and looked at her. He swallowed hard.
"Are you wearing anything under that?"
She rolled her eyes, "No, doofus. This is what I was planning on going to sleep in, and I don't like wearing anything under to sleep. Is that gonna be a problem for you, 'cause you're the one who begged me to come here, remember?"
"I remember. And no, it's not a problem," he said, looking away quickly.
He really wasn't expecting her to come back in the room wearing extremely short shorts and a tank top with nothing under, her nipples lightly poking out. He wished he didn't notice how full her breasts were. He wished he didn't think she was so hot right now.
"So, now that you're here... what did you want to do?" she asked, sitting down on the bed.
Jackson grinned, "Anything! Pretend I'm one of your girl friends and this is one of your casual sleepovers that you have all the time. What would you do then?"
She blinked a few times, "Um... we'd probably watch a movie... or like, talk about boys... or play truth or dare or something-"
"Truth or dare!" Jackson exclaimed. "That'd be fun, wouldn't it? I've played that, too."
"Uh, yeah. Most people have," she said.
"Well, what do you think of playing it with me?"
"Fine, I mean... I'm interested in getting all the dirt about what went down between you and Rocki," Ramona smirked. "Truth or dare, Jackson?"
"Now that you said that, I'm going with dare first."
"All right. Then, I dare you to tell me what went down between you and Rocki," she said proudly.
Jackson rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Ramona? You wanna know that badly?"
"Yes, I wanna know!" she exclaimed. "I mean, come on... you guys have known each other since your 8th grade summer school. You've liked her for a pretty long time, and you guys were sorta dating but nobody really knew what was going on. All I know is that she doesn't come over anymore, and that has to mean that something happened."
He sighed, "Yeah, we're not exactly a thing anymore."
"And why not?"
"All you asked is what went down, so that's what I'm gonna give you. She and I mutually decided that we're not gonna work out... for many reasons. And yeah, we were never officially dating because she told me she doesn't like labels... she didn't want the 'girlfriend' label. But it was basically a relationship; we decided not to see other people while we were 'hanging out' together."
Ramona nodded her head, "Well, seems like you really had it bad for her, huh?"
"Whatever," he shrugged his shoulders. "Isn't it your turn now? Truth or dare?"
"Truth," she replied.
"Why'd you and Chad Brad Bradley break up, anyway?"
Ramona shrugged, "Because he's a stupid jerkface."
Jackson raised his eyebrows, "Wow, that was a great answer. I know everything now."
"I don't know what you want me to say," she shrugged her shoulders. "There wasn't some huge falling out between us. I broke up with him because I realized that he only cares about himself. But you know, it would've ended anyway 'cause he's in college now. I probably never should've fallen for him because when we first met, he was a jerk and tried to cut me from the dance team. I really need to stop falling for selfish guys like him. Remember Popko?"
"Of course I remember Popko," Jackson laughed, shaking his head. "Well, whatever Ramona... these guys suck. They didn't deserve you, anyway. You deserve someone who really cares about you and loves you... and you're gonna find that eventually."
Ramona bit her lip, trying to tear her eyes away from Jackson's. What the hell was going on right now? She was getting all these weird feelings for Jackson Fuller, who was supposed to be like her annoying brother. But lately, she wasn't seeing him as an annoying brother at all...
She broke the silence by asking, "Truth or dare, Fuller?"
He smiled, "All right, all right... I'll give you the satisfaction of just picking truth."
"Thank you," she chuckled. "Since you were all dodgy when I asked about Rocki, now I want you to tell me why you two decided that things just 'weren't gonna work out.'"
"I knew you were gonna ask that, so I'm not surprised," he said. But he bit his lip anyway. He was anticipating it, but he didn't want to say it aloud. Now that he thought about it, he should've come up with some other fake answer. Since he was on the spot now, he just couldn't think of a good lie. "You sure you wanna know?"
"Okay, now you have to tell me because I'm extremely intrigued!" she told him. "Jackson!"
He sighed, turning to face the other direction so that he didn't have to be looking at her when he said it.
"Rocki got mad because she thought I had feelings for another girl," he confessed. "We weren't 'dating,' or so she claimed, but liking another girl is a big no-no for her."
"No girl wants their boyfriend to be thinking about other girls! This reminds me of when Popko wanted to be with other girls while I was away in Japan," Ramona shook her head bitterly. "Didn't you say that it was mutual? Why didn't you just tell her that it wasn't true?"
"Because she was right," he admitted. "I didn't wanna lie to her. I really did like her a lot before but I started to have feelings for somebody else and... that was that."
"You actually liked another girl!? Jackson!" Ramona cried.
"I'm sorry! But to be fair, I can't help how I feel about somebody else. And I think I did the right thing in agreeing that we should end things instead of trying to convince her that it was all in her head," he defended himself.
"Yeah, Rocki doesn't seem like the overly jealous type. I guess I should've known it's serious if she actually believed you liked another girl," Ramona reasoned. "Now, tell me more! Who's the girl that you liked, huh?"
Ramona couldn't help but feel a bit jealous herself. She, unlike Rocki, was the jealous type. She got jealous when there was no reason to be jealous... maybe like right now. She had no right to be jealous. Jackson clearly wasn't her boyfriend and he clearly didn't think of her in a romantic way. He probably did see her as an annoying sibling.
"You're asking a lot of questions for one truth," Jackson raised his eyebrows.
"They're all tied together... you're not very good at giving a solid answer, so I have to ask follow-up questions," she told him.
"Well, I guess your question will have to wait until your next turn. Sorry!" he grinned.
"Come on," she pleaded, reaching over and grabbing his arm.
He tensed up a bit, glancing over at where she was holding his arm.
"I... um... I don't think that's a very good idea," he stammered.
"How bad can she be?" she raised her eyebrows.
"Trust me, she's not bad at all," he swallowed hard. "In fact, she's very, very good. And that's exactly the problem."
Ramona tilted her head to the side. Whoever this girl was, Jackson really seemed to like her. And Ramona wondered if maybe this was for the better. It probably wasn't a very good idea to get involved with Jackson Fuller. That would just make everything even more complicated in both of their lives. But it was still bothering her that Jackson was still into this girl, and probably had been into her for a long time, since he and Rocki ended last year.
"Look Jackson, I know I'm judgy sometimes, but I promise that I'm not gonna judge you this time," she told him. "You can tell me!"
Jackson turned to look right at her, hoping that she would just quit asking already, but it didn't seem like that was ever going to happen. He decided that maybe he should just man up and tell her who the girl was, as embarrassing as it was.
"Would you still wanna know so badly if you knew that the girl is you?"
Ramona's eyes widened.
"What?" she practically choked. "Me?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "You know what? Never mind. Please forget I even said that. Uh, truth or dare?"
"Truth, I guess," she replied absentmindedly, still trying to process what he had just said.
"Who do you like more: your mom or your dad?"
"I love them both equally, honestly," she shrugged. Then, she turned to look at Jackson with a serious expression on her face. "Jackson: truth or dare? And you better pick dare."
"My better judgment is seriously telling me not to pick dare, but... then again, when do I ever listen to my better judgment?" he joked. "So... dare, then?"
"I dare you to kiss me," she suddenly said.
Jackson was startled. He almost fell off the bed right then and there, barely hanging on by clinging to the sheets to keep his balance. His eyes were wide, and all he could do was stare at Ramona. He had liked her for so long but he never thought he even had a shot with her because she was... Ramona. He wasn't very good with girls, clearly demonstrated with how he terribly handled pursuing a relationship with Lola... and also how he fell for another girl when he finally had something good with someone.
He could clearly remember how pissed off Rocki was when she first started suspecting that Jackson was into Ramona. She would glare at the two of them whenever they were talking. Finally, since she wasn't one to beat around the bush for too long, Rocki came right out and confronted him, asking him if he had feelings for Ramona. She apparently had noticed the way Jackson was looking at Ramona. And Jackson couldn't lie to her. He confessed that he had been feeling weird things for Ramona. Of course, Rocki punched him in the arm and cut him off completely, thus ending their "relationship."
Initially, Jackson had thought that with time, he would be able to get over Ramona completely. But he clearly overestimated his abilities... With Ramona living under the same roof as him, he had to see her a little bit too much, and that made it very hard for him to get over her. Instead, his feelings for her just kept growing stronger. And right now, he was so freaking attracted to her that he was afraid he would do something stupid to mess it up.
But now, Ramona was daring him to kiss her?
"Ramona..." he said in a warning tone.
"Are you actually hesitating when I just asked you to kiss me?" she asked, surprised.
He thought about it for a second before realizing he was finally getting what he had wanted for so long. Then, he sat up straight, putting his hands on Ramona's cheeks, then leaning in to press his lips against hers. It was a gentle, innocent kiss, and Jackson sure was glad that it happened.
"God, I've wanted to do that for so long," Jackson confessed, his hands still on her cheeks.
Ramona swallowed hard.
"That... Oh my God," she panicked. "Oh my God."
"What? What is it?" he asked, freaking out with her.
"That felt good," she confessed. "That wasn't supposed to feel so good... so right."
Jackson grinned, "So, you're telling me that the big problem here is that you liked kissing me? I'm certainly taking that as a win... just sayin'."
Ramona rolled her eyes, "Personally, I'm not too thrilled about this."
"Well, I am," he told her. "And I think you should be, too."
She couldn't help but smile a little bit, too. Just a few minutes ago, she was so worried because she thought that Jackson was crazy about some other girl... but things somehow turned around, and the girl he liked was her? It was all too much.
"I'm a little thrilled..." she admitted.
"And I'm gonna kiss you again."
He leaned back in, kissing her with much more force this time. She gripped his lower back and he cupped her cheeks as their lips moved in sync. He slowly started moving so that he was on top of her, their kisses becoming much less and less innocent than the first one. Ramona knew she might be pushing it too far, but her hands started snaking up Jackson's t-shirt, holding on to the hem of it, daring to pull it off. Then, Jackson started to realize that this might be going somewhere, right? He couldn't think of any other reason as to why she would want to take his shirt off.
He was a bit worried. He and Rocki had never... done that. The worst it got was a make-out session. Neither of them ever dared to go further than that. He wasn't exactly experienced with this.
"Wait," he pulled back. "Ramona, I only ever imagined that I would get to do something like this with you, and I-I... I've been waiting for this moment for so long, so... I don't want to mess everything up. Maybe I'm seriously misinterpreting everything, but... if this is going where I think it's going, I only want to do anything you want to do."
"Well, maybe I'm crazy, but..." she bit her lip. "I want this, Jackson. I want this with you."
"Oh God," his eyes widened. "Am I dreaming right now?"
She laughed, "No, no you are not dreaming."
Ramona kept going, reaching for the hem of Jackson's t-shirt, pulling it up until it was off his torso. She tossed his shirt to the ground. He leaned down, pressing his lips against Ramona's again, kissing her thoroughly. He moved his lips down to her neck, trailing kisses down it. He became more confident, his hands reaching for the hem of her tank top. He knew she was wearing nothing under that tank top, and he was freaking out on the inside. This was his first time. And it was with Ramona Gibbler.
"Wait!" he pulled back before they could go any further. "I don't have any... you know."
"You don't? I thought all guys had that with them at all times... you know, 'just in case,'" she chuckled. "I mean, one time Chad told me to get some cash from his wallet to buy our movie tickets and I found a bunch of them in there and I had no idea what to expect from him-"
"Um, I really don't want to be talking about your ex-boyfriend right now, to be honest," Jackson chuckled, scratching his head.
"Right, I'm sorry," Ramona bit her lip. "So... what are we gonna do? Should we stop?"
"No!" he cried. "No way! I think I have an idea."
"Yes?"
"My Aunt Stephanie probably has a bunch, so I'll just go down to her room in the basement and get one," Jackson said. "I overheard her talking to my mom about how she and Jimmy are 'doing it' all the time, so..."
"Ew," Ramona shuddered. "Why don't you just go get it already?"
Jackson nodded his head, "Right. Stay right here, okay? Don't move a muscle."
"Where would I go? It's my room..."
"Whatever!" he exclaimed as he ran out of her bedroom in only his shorts.
When he returned, he was glad to see that Ramona was still awake and present, waiting for him in her bed. He smiled, shutting the door and walking back over. He climbed on to the bed, feeling extremely nervous: how the hell was he supposed to have sex? He had no moves! Of course, this was almost every teenage boy's dream come true, and it was his, too, but now that he was actually here in the moment, he wasn't sure what to do. He just didn't want to mess this all up and disappoint her. What if he was terrible and she became repulsed by him? Then, there was nothing he could do because he was going to have to see her constantly, at least until they went to college.
"Jackson, are you okay?" Ramona asked, touching his chest to calm him down. She could feel his heart beating rapidly. "Jackson, it's okay... Calm down. It's just me."
"That's exactly why this is so hard," he confessed.
There was a time where he saw her as the annoying girl next door, but now he saw her as perfect. Of course, she still knew how to annoy him really well and got under his skin easily, but he wouldn't want it any other way. That was one of the things he loved about her.
"You don't have to be scared," she assured him.
She put her hand on the back of his neck, pulling his head down so that she could kiss his lips. They kissed for a few seconds before he pulled back, holding the square package in his sweaty palms. He thought hard about his sex-ed class, putting the condom on the banana and all that... he could do this. This was supposed to be good.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked him. "It's okay if you don't... really."
"I do," he nodded his head. "I really do. I just... I don't want to mess up."
"Don't worry," she smiled.
He leaned back down, kissing her again. As they were kissing, he reached for the bottom of her tank top, ready to pull it over her head. He was really about to see a girl naked, and she wasn't just some random woman on one of those "videos" he'd watch during his "private time."
This was the real thing.