Authoress' Notes

So, yeah, writer's block sucks. :( Anyway, hopefully, writing this will help me get over it. This fic is inspired by three amazing songs that I love, namely "She Will Be Loved" by: Maroon 5, "I'd Lie" by: Taylor Swift & "You're Not Alone" by: Big Time Rush. :) Happy New Year everyone!

Disclaimer: There's a reason why this is called FANfiction. I'm just a crazed fan who loves writing just for fun or about what I wish could happen on the real show. ;)

Always There

Kendall entered Jo's room since she hadn't answered even when he had knocked three times on her door already and was surprised at what he saw. Papers, pens and a couple of coloring materials were scattered all over the floor. Traces of paint were seen on the walls and her desk was full of clutter. He saw the blonde going from corner to corner of the room, looking stressed out. Her hair was messed up and there were paint stains on her clothes as well as on her face.

Going up to her and getting her attention, he asked in confusion, "What is going on here?"

Sighing, she replied, "I have tons of things to do since a lot of projects are due next week,"

"But you can't possibly have this much to do," He said, looking around the room that was full of mess once again.

"You know I have lots of extra curriculars," She said to him as she grabbed a pencil and started working on a poster, "and then there are the things for my AP classes,"

Finishing up an initial design on the poster, Jo quickly ran over to her computer and started typing her essay for English until the machine crashed.

"FUDGE!" She exclaimed in annoyance, not wanting to use an actual curse word as she hit the monitor, "Stupid computer,"

Having enough, Kendall grabbed Jo by the shoulders to keep her from moving another step, "This is insane!" He said to her.

"You think I don't know?" Jo said back, trying to prevent her voice from cracking, "There are just so may people counting on me to have these done," Her eyes drifted to the poster and mural she was working on as Kendall followed her gaze, "Then I have to work my butt off if I ever want to get into a good university," Kendall saw her eyes shift from her artworks to her busted up computer.

Releasing herself from his hold on her and sitting on her bed, Jo buried her face in her hands, "I just don't think I can do all of these anymore," The tears were slowly escaping her eyes and rolling down her face as Kendall felt just as bad as she was feeling. It always pained him to see her cry, even when they were little kids.

Sitting down beside her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, he whispered, "Yes, you can,"

"No, I can't," She wailed as she looked up at him, "The pressure is just too much, I mean, they're all due next week and so much is on the line,"

"Then why didn't you come to me and ask for help?" He asked her. Sure, he wasn't as academically great as Jo sought out to be, but he did have just as much AP classes and being captain of the hockey team did take up as much time and as much work as all of Jo's extra curricular activities combined did.

"I don't want to cause you any troub-" She began to say, but Kendall immediately cut her off.

"It's no trouble at all," He told her honestly as he stood up and held out his hand for Jo to take.

Smiling, Jo accepted his hand as he pulled her up from her place. She mouthed him a 'thank you' and the two went off to finish everything that needed to be done, side by side.

The tears kept flowing down her face as she buried her head in her pillow and continued to sob uncontrollably into it. Her heart ached and all she wanted was for the pain to go away.

"Hey," She heard a familiar voice say as her bedroom door opened slowly after a few knocks.

Lifting her head, she tried to crack a smile as she met the eyes of her best friend, "Kendall,"

Sitting up on her bed as she wiped some of the tears from her eyes, she asked in between sniffles, "What brings you here?"

Chuckling to lighten the mood, he sat beside her and placed an arm around her shoulder, "You need me now, right?"

At an attempt at sarcasm that failed due to her raspy voice from crying, she remarked, "What, do you have some kind of machine that tells you when I'm in trouble?"

"I wish," He replied with a light laugh, "Nah, I just have the instincts for these things,"

Managing a smile, she wondered, "How lucky am I then to have someone like you in my life?"

Smirking, he replied, "Very,"

Leaning her head on his shoulder but not before slapping his shoulder lightly, she told him, "Don't ruin the moment,"

The two sat in comfortable silence until Kendall spoke, "He's an idiot by the way,"

Surprised at his words, she asked, "Who?"

"Kurt- he's pretty stupid for letting someone as great as you go,"

"How did you-" She began to ask but Kendall immediately interrupted her.

"Camille," He said simply which got a small laugh out of her.

"Should've known," She said, shaking her head.

"Anyway," Kendall started to say after awhile, "you shouldn't let this get to you,"

Letting out a sigh, she said, "I know, Camille told me the same thing,"

"That's because we both see how amazing you are, making it obvious that Kurt was never worthy to be your boyfriend to begin with,"

Smiling sheepishly at the ground, she asked, "You really think I'm amazing?"

Kissing her forehead, he said, "I never doubted it for one second,"

However, her smile had faltered after awhile as a thought had occurred to her, "He still wins though because I doubt he went through any of the pain that I felt,"

Kendall lifted her chin up so that they were eye to eye as he said to her, "Look, Kurt has not won, he's played you and," He paused awhile before saying, "there's a lot of other guys that are better for you than Kurt,"

"You really think there's a guy out there for me?"

"Out there..." He trailed off.

"In here," He added to himself as a mental note.

"Jo, would you slow down?" Camille called as she tried her best to catch up with the blonde who was going from store to store in such a rush.

Sitting down on a bench by the fountain to take a short break, Jo said, "I wish I could Cam, but tomorrow is Kendall's birthday already and I don't have anything for him yet,"

Grinning, Camille questioned jokingly, "Has someone forgotten whose special day it is tomorrow as well?"

Rolling her eyes but still smiling, Jo scoffed, "I have no time to age, especially not when I'm currently freaking out on what to get my best friend for his birthday,"

Faking hurt, Camille remarked, "Hey! I thought I was your best friend,"

"You're my girl best friend Cam," Jo said with a light laugh as she stood up, "but don't worry, no one could replace you,"

Feeling touched, Camille replied, "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, where else can I find someone so crazy in yet lovable at the same time?" Jo kid, which earned her a light punch in the arm from Camille.

The two continued to browse every store until Jo's eyes landed on something interesting, "This one is perfect,"

"Today was so fun!" Jo exclaimed as Kendall walked her to her front steps.

A tradition that the two had made was that during their birthday (November 17th), they would spend the entire day together and exchange gifts at the end of the day.

Today, the two started the day with breakfast at the Knight's house- Jo loved Mrs. Knight's pancakes- then headed off to complete some of the things they have listed on their bucket list, such as sky diving, parasailing and other fun activities. They had lunch at their favorite pizza parlor and they also had a small picnic on top of a hill as they watched the sun set.

Smiling widely, Kendall said, "I'm glad you had fun,"

"But the day isn't over," Jo reminded him.

Nodding, Kendall suggested, "Movie marathon in your living room?"

An excited feeling washed over Jo as she cheered in agreement with his idea, "Of course!"

Jo took out her key and unlocked the front door, only to be met with darkness.

"Hello?" The two of them called in unison as they entered the house.

The moment Jo flipped open the light switch, they were greeted with a loud "Surprise! Happy birthday!"

Kendall and Jo's eyes widened in happiness as they saw the Taylors' living room filled with their family and friends. Both of their parents were there as well as their siblings- Drew, Jo's older brother and Katie, Kendall's baby sister. Jo's two best friends, Camille & Stephanie, were there as well along with Kendall's three best buds- James, Carlos and Logan.

After being greeted by their respective parents and sibling, Kendall & Drew exchanged some words as well as Jo & Katie.

Pulling her into a hug, Katie greeted the blonde, "Happy birthday again, Jo!"

"Awh, thanks Katie! You look great as always," Jo replied when they pulled away and once she had a look over the younger girl. Katie had always been like a little sister to her and she never failed to compliment the girl since she was beautiful.

The two blondes made their way over to their friends who all greeted them warmly as they all went in for a group hug.

The party went off without a hitch and soon enough, it was time for everyone to go home. Katie & Mrs. Knight had told Kendall they'll meet him back at the house and Jo's parents along with Drew, had gone upstairs to rest, leaving her and Kendall alone in the living room.

"Okay birthday twin," Jo said with a grin, "Time for exchange gifts,"

"Heh, alright," Kendall said with a chuckle as both he and Jo sat on the couch.

Taking out a rectangular object from his pocket, he handed it to Jo, "Here you go!"

A smile formed on Jo's face as she received the gift. It was nicely wrapped with blue crepe paper, and it was tied with a big, red bow.

"Your mom wrapped this didn't she?" Jo teased which got a sheepish smile to appear on the blonde boy's face.

Giggling, Jo untied the ribbon and started unwrapping her present. Soon enough, a rectangular, black, velvet box was in her hands.

Gasping upon opening the box, Jo breathed, "It's beautiful," Inside was a silver necklace with a heart shaped locket. Her name was engraved in the front of the pendant and inside the locket, she found two pictures of her and Kendall- one was of them at the age of ten after a paintball fight, and the other was a more recent picture that they had just taken the other day of them at school during their annual fair.

"Just like you," Kendall said which caused her to punch his arm playfully.

"Thank you, I love it!" Jo said happily as she threw her arms around him.

"Oh, time for me to give your gift!" She said once they broke the hug. Going over to the closet under the stairs, Jo pulled out her present to him that was wrapped with green paper and that also had a big, red bow on it.

"You used my favorite color," Kendall noted with a toothy grin. Jo laughed lightly since of course, she of all people knew that he loved the color green.

Handing him the gift, Jo smiled upon seeing him get all excited just like a five year old who got gifts under the tree on Christmas morning.

"A guitar? Seriously?" He exclaimed in disbelief as he observed the string instrument in his hands.

"You could say thank you," She joked which got a laugh out of both of them as he placed his new guitar down and he hugged her.

"Thank you! Thank you," He repeated over and over again once they pulled away and as he held the guitar in his hands again, "But now I feel bad,"

Obviously confused, she asked him, "Why?"

"This must have cost a lot," He said as he looked at her, feeling guilty.

"No worries," She assured him with a small laugh, "You are worth every penny of it,"

A few moments of silence have passed with them admiring their presents until Kendall said, "I have a confession to make,"

"What is it?" Jo asked curiously.

"I don't know how to say this, but," He started, leaning in closer to her. Slowly, he planted a soft kiss on her lips. Surprised, Jo found herself kissing back, much to Kendall's delight, even though she was still shocked.

When they both needed air, Jo said breathlessly, "Wow,"

Embarrassed slightly, Kendall admitted, "I've been wanting to do that awhile now,"

"Me too," Jo found herself saying but she knew it was the truth.

"Well, then I guess my question should be a piece of cake,"

"Which is?"

Taking a deep breath, Kendall began to say, "Josephine Anne Taylor, will you be my girlfriend?"

Jo wore a deciding look on her face until she turned her back to him.

"Hey? Jo?" Kendall asked her worriedly, afraid that she would say no and that their friendship would be ruined, "Jo!"

A sigh of relief escaped his lips once Jo turned to face him with a huge smile on her face.

"Just kidding! I didn't want to make it too easy for you," She started, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend,"

The two laughed in happiness as they shared another kiss. Bumping foreheads afterwards when their lungs needed the air, they breathed in unison, "Best birthday gift ever."

Haha, hope you guys liked that! :) This is officially my last fanfic for the year. All you readers' support throughout the year has kept me going! Thank you all for being a part of the reasons why my 2011 was so amazing! Love each and everyone of you! Oh, and please don't forget to leave a review! I'd love to know what you guys thought of this. :)