Here's another prompt-list series, this time for Jo & Blair. I just couldn't resist. :) Hope you guys like these.
Disclaimer: I don't own Facts of Life. Dammit!
A/N: This takes place after the series, Jo is married and Blair is head-mistress at Eastland.
Prompt: "I didn't know where to go.
Summary: Less than a year into her marriage, Jo is confronted with a realisation that has her running to the one person she hopes will understand.
Safe Haven
"All right, I'm coming." Blair shouted in annoyance as she climbed out of bed and pulled on her silk robe before sleepily making her way to the front door. Whoever had decided to call on her at 3am on a Sunday was going to pay for interrupting her beauty sleep. She angrily pulled open the door but the emotion dissolved into concern when she saw who was stood on her doorstep. "Jo?"
"Hey, Princess." the brunette smiled shyly, shifting from foot to foot.
Blair could only stare at the other woman in disbelief. They hadn't seen each other in almost 5 months, not since Jo moved to L.A. with Rick. In fact, they'd barely even spoken in that time and it wasn't for lack of trying on her part. She'd told herself that Jo was probably busy trying to adjust to her new life, as they all were, but Blair knew it was something more. Jo had been pulling away and neither she nor their other friends could figure out why. So why was she here now?"
"Yo, Blair, you gonna let me in or leave me out in the rain all night?"
Jo's voice knocked her out of her thoughts and she finally looked beyond the brunette to see the downpour. Her eyes found their way back to her friend, narrowing when she saw that she held her motorcycle helmet under one arm.
"Jo, have you been riding that death machine in this weather?"
"Yeah and I'm drenched. So, can I come in or not?"
Blair only shook her head and pulled the other woman into the house, not caring a bit that she was dripping all over her floor.
"You look awful." she said when she got a good look at Jo under the bright light.
"Gee, thanks, Blair." Jo scoffed but it came off too brittle to hold any real heat.
"You know what I mean." Blair waved away her comment as she further studied her best friend. She instantly saw Jo's puffy, red-rimmed eyes and felt her anger resurface. "What happened?"
"Do you mind if I dry off before you start your interrogation, Counsellor?" Again, Jo's voice sounded flat and she quickly caved under Blair's glare. "Please, Blair."
"Fine." the blonde acquiesced with a sigh. Whatever was going on, she knew she wouldn't get her answers right now. And the look of defeat marring her friend's beautiful features worried her. Jo Polniaczek was not one to give up easily. "You can shower while I make some tea. Did you bring any spare clothes with you?"
"I, uh...I didn't really have a chance to grab anything."
"Don't tell me you drove all the way from California with nothing more than the clothes on your back!"
"Of course not." Jo rolled her eyes, sounding a bit more like her old, if infuriating, self. "I was in Manhattan-"
"You were in the city and didn't call me?" Blair interrupted, unable to hide the dejection she felt at this revelation.
"Rick had a show and I-" Jo closed her eyes for a moment, looking as though she were attempting to pull herself together. "Look, I'll tell you everything after I dry off. Okay?"
"All right." Blair nodded, squeezing Jo's arm and leading her down the hall to the guest bath. "Go ahead and shower while I find you something dry to put on."
"Thanks, Blair." Jo sent her a genuine smile, the first since her arrival, and it lightened the blonde's heart a little. "I knew I could count on you."
"Always." Blair smiled back before turning toward the spare bedroom where she kept some of the things Jo had left behind. She hadn't bothered to send them to her, holding onto the hope that Jo would visit often enough to make it unnecessary. She hadn't expected the first visit to be under such odd circumstances but was happy her friend was here now. It made her proud to know she was the one person Jo ran to when things got tough. She just wondered what could have occurred to send her running in the middle of the night without a thought to clothing or a care about her safety.
Blair pushed aside her thoughts as she gathered up the necessary items before tapping lightly on the bathroom door. There was no answer but she could hear the shower going so she carefully cracked the door open and peeked in. Jo was indeed in the shower and Blair sighed in relief before walking into the room. She froze, however, when she heard muffled sobs emanating from behind the curtain. After only a moment's hesitation, she placed the pile of clothing and towels on the counter and quietly backed out of the room. She knew Jo would freak if she found out anyone had heard her crying and there was no way Blair was going to jeopardise her chance to help the other woman. No matter what had happened over the last several months, Jo was still her best friend and she would do whatever it took to make her happy again. Even if it killed her.
When Jo stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, she immediately saw the clothes and smiled. She didn't even bother to wonder why Blair had held onto the old sweat-suit, knowing that, beneath her outwardly superficial veneer, the heiress was one of the most kind-hearted people she'd even known. She was definitely the most loyal friend Jo had ever had and that was the reason she knew she could show up in the middle of the night without risking rejection, Blair would listen and do everything in her power to help. It was just too bad that this was one thing even the debutante couldn't rectify.
Jo hurriedly dressed and headed toward the kitchen, pausing in the doorway when she found Blair sitting at a small table with a mug of tea in her hands and a faraway look in her eyes. She felt a pang of guilt in knowing she was the reason for the crease in her friend's otherwise flawless visage.
"Are you going to stand and stare at me much longer, Jo?" Blair questioned without looking her way. "I'm not exactly at my best right now."
"Sorry, Princess." Jo apologised with a small smile and took the seat opposite the blonde. "And don't worry, you're as beautiful as ever."
"Of course I am." Blair grinned but there was a disquiet in her eyes that belied the tone as she grabbed hold of Jo's hand. "Now, tell me why you chose to drive all the way to Peekskill in the pouring rain on your motorcycle. You realise that you could have been killed, don't you?"
"It was stupid, I know." Jo sighed and tried to withdraw her hand but Blair held fast. "I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. I just had to get out of the city."
"Why didn't you call me? I would have come to get you or, at the very least, gotten my father's driver to pick you up and bring you here."
"I didn't want to cause any more trouble for anyone else, least of all you."
"You showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night without so much as a phone call and I still don't know why." Blair sent her a dubious look.
"I hadn't planned on coming here. I just...I didn't know where to go." Jo responded sullenly, looking down at the table in shame.
"Hey, I'm not angry." Blair reassured with a slight tug on Jo's hand to regain her attention. "I'm worried. You need to talk to me, Joey."
"Isn't that what we're doing?" Jo joked but sobered when she saw the disapproving look in the other woman's eyes. She took a deep breath before continuing, knowing she was going to need as much fortitude as she could muster. "I had a fight with Rick and I-I've left him."
"Left him?" Blair's eyes widened in shock. "As in..."
"As in, I asked him for a divorce and he agreed." Jo self-consciously looked at Blair, hoping to gauge her reaction. She saw confusion and sympathy, and perhaps a little anger, in the expressive brown eyes.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No!" Jo was quick to reassure. She definitely did not want Blair thinking that. "No, nothing like that."
"Okay, then what did happen?"
"I-I missed my period last month and then again this month."
"You're pregnant?" For the first time in years, Jo couldn't read Blair's expression.
"No, I'm not. But for a few weeks I thought I might be and that terrified me."
"From what I hear, most women are a little scared when they think they may be pregnant. It's normal."
"It wasn't just the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy." Jo stood to pace, hoping the action would help her to put her thoughts in order. She knew what she had to say next was going to be difficult enough without worrying over whether or not she could articulate it properly. "Yeah, the thought of having kids is scary but what terrified me even more was the idea of raising them in a loveless marriage. Or...a one-sided one, at least."
"What are you talking about? I thought you loved Rick."
"I do, but...just not in the way a woman should love her husband." Jo took another deep, steadying breath and turned to face Blair again. "When I thought I might be pregnant, I realised that I couldn't keep lying to myself or to him. It just wasn't fair to either of us."
"Lying about what, Joey?"
"Everything!" Jo shouted in frustration, sinking into her seat as exhaustion closed in. She placed her head in her hands, letting fall the tears she'd been holding back. Blair was instantly at her side, kneeling and pulling her into an embrace. For the first time in months, Jo felt her world begin to right itself again.
"Shh, Joey." Blair cooed soothingly, placing a gentle kiss to her friend's hair. "Everything will be all right. I've got you now and I won't leave your side. Ever."
Jo felt another sob ripple through her at the words, holding onto them as she burrowed deeper into the blonde's arms. After a few minutes, she got herself back under control and pulled back just enough to look Blair in the eye.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Don't apologise, you obviously needed that." Blair told her before a cheeky grin lit her face. "Besides, if I ran away every time you yelled at me, I'd have made it around the globe half a dozen times by now."
"At least." Jo snorted, thankful for the levity, but she quickly sobered. "I really thought I could be happy, y'know. I wouldn't have married Rick otherwise. The last thing I want is to be like my parents."
"Hey, you're nothing like your parents. Neither of us is. We can't control who we love, though." Blair cupped Jo's face and wiped away a few stray tears as she collected her own thoughts. She was still reeling from the revelation that Jo had even thought she could be pregnant but she pushed aside her ruminations in order to focus on her friend as she started to speak again.
"Rick is such a good guy, he didn't deserve this, didn't deserve me. Do you know what the worst part is? After the initial shock wore off, he wasn't even surprised. But he was so angry."
"He shouldn't be. It's your body and your choice if you want to become pregnant."
"You don't understand." Jo shook her head in frustration. "He wasn't angry that I didn't want kids. He was angry that I'd lied to him."
"About wanting children?" Now Blair was confused again. She felt like she was missing an important piece of the puzzle.
"No, about..." Jo took another deep breath before continuing. "Blair, I have to tell you something that may change the way you look at me. I don't want you to hate me but I have to tell you the truth."
"I could never hate you, Joey." Blair smiled gently, grabbing hold of the other woman's hand to let her knew she was sincere.
"I hope so because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"You'll never have to find out. Now, tell me what is going on."
"Okay." Jo nodded and squeezed Blair's hand to gain courage. "I've known the truth for a while but was too scared to admit it, even to myself. I'd thought if I just acted normal, that would be enough but it wasn't. It isn't enough and I'm tired of pretending. I'm tired of lying to everyone I love."
"Lying about what?"
"I'm gay, Blair."
"Oh."
"Oh? Is that all you have to say?" Jo's eyes were wide and Blair could read fear in their depths.
"Give me a minute, this is a big confession. I mean, I've suspected it practically from the moment we met but I wasn't sure you'd ever actually come out."
"What?" Jo pulled her hand away angrily. "You knew?"
"No, I suspected." Blair responded in a calm voice, knowing it was what Jo needed at the moment. "We lived together for eight years, Jo. I saw things which pointed in that direction."
"You never said anything." Now Jo was looking at her with confusion in her green eyes.
"It wasn't my place." Blair shrugged and smiled wryly.
"That never stopped you before."
"True, but you had to figure this one out on your own. If I had said anything, you would have denied it and likely closed yourself off even more. It had to come from you."
"How do you know so much about this?"
"Because I understand what it's like to have people tell me who I should be, how I should behave, what I should feel. Until I met you, I allowed myself to be guided by the expectations of others and I probably would have continued along that path, not thinking twice about it, if you hadn't shown me that there was another way. If you hadn't shown me that I could be more."
"Ah, I didn't do anything special." Jo turned away with a blush.
"Yes, you did." Blair captured Jo's hand once more, forcing the other woman to look at her. "You were my friend. I'd never had one before, not a real one, at least. No one's ever been there for me the way you have."
"I feel the same way, Blair. No one's ever believed in me the way you have. I don't think I've ever thanked you for that."
"It's not necessary." Blair told her before asking the question at the front of her mind. "Why did you think your sexuality would make me hate you?"
"I don't know." Jo shrugged helplessly. "I guess I figured you might not want to be seen associating with a...a..."
"A lesbian?" Blair finished for her. "You're not the first lesbian I've "associated" with, Jo."
"Really?"
"Honestly, we really need to get you to more Society functions." Blair rolled her eyes.
"So, you're okay with this?" Jo asked, still sounding unsure.
"There's nothing to be okay with. It's simply another part of who you are and I'm just happy you're finally being honest with yourself and me. I'm proud of you, Joanna Polniaczek."
"You have no idea how much that means to me, Blair."
"I think I do." Blair smiled and glanced at the wall clock, her eyes widening when she realised they'd been talking for over an hour. "Now, I think we should both get some sleep. We can talk more later."
"Blair, you don't-"
"The guest room is already made up for you so there's no point in arguing." Blair stood and levelled the brunette with her best head mistress glare, grinning smugly when Jo sighed and got up.
"All right. I am tired and it's Sunday."
"Good." Blair nodded firmly and led her friend toward the bedroom.
"Blair?" Jo looked at her with a small smile. "Thank you."
"Of course." Blair pulled Jo to her in a tight embrace. "I'll always be her for you. I love you."
"I love you, too." Jo replied on a shuddery breath before pulling back and going into the room.
Blair waited for a moment after the door was closed between them before heading back to her own room, a soft smile on her face.
Both women fell asleep quickly, feeling relieved and content for the first time in months. They knew there would be more to discuss, more to delve into, but for now it was enough to know neither of them was alone. That they were in this together no matter what happened.
The End