Laurie looked down at the ring on his finger, and slowly twisted it. "Have you heard from Jo since being in Europe?" he asked Amy, trying to sound casual and miserably failing.
Amy felt troubled at Laurie's tone. It had been several months since Jo had refused Laurie's marriage proposal, and Laurie appeared to be making little progress in getting over his disappointment. "We have exchanged a few brief letters, but neither of us have had much time for writing" she answered. Has Jo not written to you at all?"
"We haven't corresponded at all while I have been in Europe."
Amy appeared troubled by Laurie's answer. "I am surprised. I must say that I wouldn't have thought that the two of you would have let this misunderstanding get in the way of your friendship."
Laurie sighed. "Jo, I believe is very busy in New York, and besides, I think that she wants me to forget about her, lest I try to propose again." He carried on mournfully twisting the small ring that Jo had once given him around his finger; he continued to wear this small reminder of Jo even though the sight of it tormented him, as he could not bear to give it up. "As if I could ever forget her!" he exclaimed bitterly.
Unsure of what to say to make Laurie feel better, Amy stayed silent for a while, and continued with her drawing. After several minutes of silence however, she made up her mind to tell Laurie what she really believed about him and Jo, for although it might momentarily pain him further, she hoped that it might benefit both him and her sister in the long term. "Laurie, I have not often been called a romantic, but I do believe that you and Jo were made for each other, for you are better suited to each other than any of the characters in Jo's romance stories", said Amy, setting aside her sketching.
Laurie groaned. "Amy are you trying to torment me? I believed the same, but she won't have me, so what am I do to? This isn't a story, Amy, it's my life!"
"Don't speak so Laurie", replied Amy, feeling troubled by Laurie's reaction, "I didn't mean to torment you. What I am trying to say is that I believe Jo loves you!"
Laurie glared at Amy with a mixture of anger, frustration, and sadness. "Yes, I know that she loves me, but only as her dearest friend, not in the way that I love her, the way that I had dared to hope that she loved me, foolish fellow that I was!"
Amy paused. She believed herself to be right in her suppositions, but she didn't want to give Laurie false hope. Still, she felt that at this point it was better to finish what she had started, so taking a deep breath she continued her hypothesis.
"Yes, she may say that now Laurie, but I think it likely that Jo does not know her own mind."
Laurie looked at Amy quizzically. "There is nobody more headstrong than Jo, nobody knows that better than me Amy. If she won't have me, she won't have me, it is a lost cause."
Amy smiled. "You forget that I am Jo's sister, and the two of us fought more growing up than any of the rest of the March girls combined, I know just as well as you exactly how strong minded and strong-willed Jo is, and you are right: if Jo did not love you, then it would be impossible, not to mention extremely inadvisable, to try and make her love you. But I believe that she is in love with you, but that she is simply not yet ready for marriage. Consider it Laurie: she enjoys spending time with you over anyone else, and when you are together the pair of you are so well suited to each other's company that outsiders feel quite excluded! You have no idea how often I have felt that way in your presence. As a child I used to feel quite jealous of the special bond that you and Jo share, but as a woman I now admire it, and only hope that I may one day find a man who understands me as well as you and Jo understand each other.
"You are right, my friendship with Jo was very special, but a friendship does not guarantee love."
"That is right Laurie, although I had not yet finished my explanation of why I believe Jo is in love with you."
"Then I apologise for interrupting you Amy."
"Consider my second point of observation, while admittedly you and Jo often argue, you cannot deny that there is nobody else who can reassure her the way that you can. Thirdly, she wants the best for you. She sees immense potential in "her boy" and she wants to help you to realise it. Why would she concern herself with you so if she didn't love you? Fourthly, you make her laugh in a way that nobody else can. Fifthly, you never judge her for her eccentricities, but embrace her for them – a rare quality in a man of your social status. Sixthly, I am aware that outward appearances do not matter a great deal to Jo, but she has been known to remark that you have grown into the most handsome young man she has ever seen."
"Thank you, Amy, I appreciate your efforts to lift my spirits, but it is no use. Jo clearly refused me to my face, and stated quite plainly that she only loves me as a brother, and that she could never love me as a husband. It is a lost cause, and let us speak no more of it, please."
"But Laurie, I think that while Jo was not ready to contemplate the idea of marriage when you proposed to her last Summer, that is not to say that she does not love you as you love her. I believe that Jo merely wished to retain her independence, and the freedom to concentrate on her "scribbling" without the responsibilities that come with being a wife. She may not be ready for marriage for some more years yet. But I believe that one day she will tire of her freedom, and then she will be ready to be your wife."
"If that was the case, Amy, she would have told me, instead of telling me that her feelings will never change. Jo has always been honest with me."
Amy sighed. "I'm not sure if Jo even knows that she loves you, for she imagines love to always be like the type in her stories, where a brave knight saves a damsel in distress. As Jo does not view herself as in need of rescuing by any man, she cannot imagine herself getting married, as you and Jo do not fit the romantic model which she as always imagined in her writing. But I believe that your love for each other is more beautiful than that of any fairy tale, for you really are equally matched, you understand each other completely, and bring out the best in each other. Jo just needs time to realise that marrying you need not get in the way of her writing, for I know that you support her ambition wholeheartedly. For now, start corresponding with her again, but make no mention of marriage. Just be her dear old friend again – you know she must miss her boy. The two of you have something special, time will even out your misunderstandings. Eventually, Jo will realise that love is stronger than her fears, but don't push her. In her own time, she will come around to the idea of marriage."
Laurie stretched out on the grassy bank and closed his eyes. Amy had given him a lot to consider. He did miss Jo's friendship, but he still felt vulnerable to her rejection, and he was unsure if he was willing to risk having his heart broken again. Could Amy be right, could it be possible that Jo could love him? He had definitely thought at one time that she had, or he would never have risked their friendship by proposing. He had thought that the way she looked at him sometimes had betrayed her feelings, but what if this was just his own vanity? Still, if Amy believed that Jo loved him, perhaps he hadn't been mistaken after all. Even if Amy was mistaken, even if Jo didn't love him, then he could at least renew their friendship, couldn't he? He missed having Jo in his life. He had already been rejected by her, there was nothing for him to lose. He made up his mind that he would resume his friendship with Jo instantly, maybe one day she would accept his love, but even if she did not, he meant to keep her as a friend rather than lose her completely.
Thank you so much for the kind reviews! I'm not sure if I will continue, as I originally designed this as a one-shot, to show how Laurie and Amy's meeting in Europe could have turned out differently. This is the first fanfic I ever wrote; I wrote it after watching BBC's adaptation of Little Women and while I've always disliked the fact that Laurie and Amy get together, I especially hated their pairing in this adaption, as I felt that Amy was portrayed to be especially bratty and selfish. I'm undecided about Laurie and Jo. I think that because I identify quite strongly with Jo in many ways, but almost certainly wouldn't have refused Laurie myself haha, I'm inclined to want to believe that they are a good match. However, after actually rereading Good Wives, it seems that Jo and the Professor may in fact be a better match; Jo is probably more intellectual than me and so perhaps she would be happier with the Professor. I just hate the fact that Laurie ends up with Amy, wish Louisa May Alcott had created an original character for him!