AN: Hi! I thought I'd write something about the JLs because they're one of the greatest things about this fandom and just like me, many of you can't get enough of them. Please give me some feedback so I know if I should continue writing this or not. I'd also like to ask you to be kind and go easy on me when it comes to grammar and such, once I'm not a native speaker. Thank you very much in advance :) Love, Carolina ( jaileyjames on twitter)
James sat on the big white couch in the green room, his head hanging low, fidgeting with his fingers.
"You ready to play?"
The sound of her voice made him perk up instantly and he could've sworn he'd heard angels sing when he looked up and saw her face.
"Joy, hi!" he stuttered, standing up immediately and pecking her cheek, giving her a warm hug.
"You look great, baby J." she smiled, rubbing his arm up and down quickly before giving him a pat on the back and being on her way, saying hi to the rest of the cast. She looked even more beautiful, if that was possible. Her dark blonde hair barely touched her shoulders and her smile never wavered. The ache in his heart was eased by the sight of her. They hadn't seen each other in a year, since the last convention they both attended, their hectic schedules driving them away from each other. As much as he'd hate to admit it to anyone, he missed her.
Rob saw him following her with his eyes from the other side of the room and chuckled to himself. He always knew James had a soft spot for Joy. Everyone in the cast and crew was well aware. Everyone but Joy, who was oblivious to the way he always blushed when she spoke to him and the way he let out a cute little nervous laugh whenever she teased him.
"You seriously need to get it over with, buddy." Rob advised, shaking his head. "It's been what, 13 years?"
James rolled his eyes, burying his hands in his pockets. "C'mon man, I just broke up with my girlfriend."
Robert's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and a giddy smile crept up on his lips.
"VanSanten!" he shouted to the blonde beauty who was on the phone with a fan. "Pay up, doofus!"
"Did you bet on how much time my relationship would last...again?" James huffed, annoyed by his friend's lack of sensibility.
"Sorry dude, I just really love to make money at your expense. Plus, Shantel's going to have to wear a clown nose for the whole day because of this. " Rob shrugged in response. "Look, as I see it, this is your chance. From what I've heard, she's pretty much single. You're single. When was the last time you two were single at the same time? That's right, never. This is how it's going to go down: you finally get it over with this weekend and we all live happily ever after. I promise it won't hurt." he added, giving him a thumbs up. James looked at him baffled, incredulous with his honesty and how he was so forward about this particular subject.
"You're really annoying, did you know that?" he conceded, sighing and turning his back on his friend, deciding to go up to Joy and spend some time with her. God, she looked stunning.
Robert took this as a chance to slap James' butt, proudly chanting "Go get her, tiger!"
James chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. God, James, get it together man! he thought, trying to shake away the feeling he was inevitably going to make a fool of himself.
When she saw him approaching, the wonderful smile that decorated her face grew wider. "Come here!" Joy urged, motioning for him to move faster. "I've been getting tweets for weeks asking me for a Naley reunion picture. Do you mind taking one with me?" she asked kindly, her big brown eyes looking up at him, completely mesmerizing him. "James?" He was snapped back to reality by her voice, a coy smile forming on his lips as he managed to stammer a quick "Of course!" without sounding too desperate. "I think we should make it a really cute couple-y picture." Joy proposed, handing her phone to Ashley.
"Yeah, sure." he conceded. "I think I know what you mean."
He stood behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder and snaking his arms around her waist, laying his hands on her stomach. Her smell was inebriating and sweet, just like her.
"Okay, are you ready?" Ashley asked.
Joy nodded and James stood still, his trademark smirk making an appearance once again.
"I think everyone's going to go crazy over these." Ashley added, handing the phone back to Joy, who started looking through the pictures that were taken.
"We're definitely going to break the internet. " Joy announced cheerfully as she raised her fist for him to bump. He did so and took her phone, agreeing with her statement. They looked so happy. He accidentaly swiped right once more, a picture of Maria popping up. "Is that...?"
"Yeah, that's my little girl. She's been growing up more and more every day." she gushed. He gave her a loving look before letting his mouth work faster than his brain "She's beautiful, she certainly takes after her mother."
Joy blushed slightly, swatting at his arm playfully. "How are you always such a charmer?"
As he was about to reply, he heard his name being called. "Hey little bro, we're doing reunion pics now? You know the Scott brothers are on high demand..." Chad chimed in.
James sighed, almost exasperated.
"Go ahead. We have plenty of time to catch up." Joy pointed out, seeming to be reading his mind.
He reluctantly agreed, heading over to Chad and posing for pictures.
Joy picked up a bottle of water from the refreshments table, distracted by thoughts of him.
"Is it just me or does he get more attractive every year that goes by?" Ashley popped out of nowhere, startling her.
"Who?" she inquired, looking around the room.
"What do you mean "who"? James, who else? Have you seen those arms?"
Ashley was certainly right. He aged like fine wine. James had always been beyond cute, but as years went by he turned from cute to extremely handsome. Joy bit her lip when she thought about how close he had been to her neck, flashbacks of every kiss he had planted there for nine years flooding back into her mind.
"Oh, yeah... He does look good." she mustered, slightly flustered.
"Good is an understatement." Ashley winked, picking up a water bottle and leaving her alone with her thoughts, mindlessly wandering around looking for a bathroom where she could freshen up before the Q&A panel.
"Good to be back with the hubby?"
"Jesus Christ, Rob, you scared the life out of me." Joy shrieked, placing both hands over her heart.
"Sorry... So, as I was saying, excited to be back with the husband?"
"James?"
"The one and only." Rob nodded.
"It's really good to see him."
"You know, he could really use your support right now..."
"Why, what happened?" Joy furrowed her brows in confusion.
"He just broke up with his girlfriend."
Joy ignored the pang of jealousy she felt when Robert mentioned James' girlfriend and the way her heart soared when she realised the words "break up" had left his mouth. In spite of that, she felt sad for him. She couldn't fathom James being in pain, she cared too much about him.
"That's awful." she lamented, frowning slightly.
"Yeah...Look, he could really use a friendly face. Show him some love if you can." Rob suggested in response, holding her by the shoulders.
"Okay?"
"Thanks Joy, you're a peach." he crowed, leading her back to the green room, just in time to hear the assistant call her name for the panel.
She eyed James, still stuck taking pictures with Chad, sending him a sympathetic look. He winked at her and came over.
Joy intertwined her arm with his. "Let's go, partner."
The crowd cheered in glee as they walked out arm in arm, climbing on the improvised stage set up for the convention. James led her to the couch, waiting for her to sit before he did the same, keeping a safe distance from her mesmerizing presence.
Joy noticed the distance he had put between them and leaned in, gently touching his toned arm."You know, you can come closer. Promise I won't bite." she whispered in his ear, sending chills through his entire body. He reluctantly scooted closer to her, goosebumps covering his skin as she nodded in approval.
The first question came from the left side of the room. A young girl almost jumped up from her seat, eagerly grabbing the microphone that was handed to her. "Hi guys! Gilmore Girls had a revival last year, would you be willing to come back to Tree Hill as Nathan and Haley?"
"Absolutely. Nathan is such a big part of who I am, I would love to bring him back to life again. I think everyone would agree to come back, you need to hit up Mark for that one!" James promptly answered, looking at Joy from time to time. "Joy?"
"Yeah, I would love to eventually play Haley again. It would certainly be something I wouldn't have to think twice about if it came up in a few years."
"Where do you think Nathan and Haley are right now?"
"Probably at home, looking after their five children, making some more." James replied, smiling at Joy.
"Yep, Haley's still singing and running Karen's Caffé and Nathan's finding the next big athlete."
"What was it like working alongside each other for nine years?" This time the question came from the back of the room.
"Oh, awful!" Joy scoffed. "Can you imagine having to make-out with this guy every day?" she teased, pointing at James.
"Yeah, just horrible. No chemistry whatsoever. Dreaded every single day of it." he followed, hearing the fans laugh at their playful bickering.
"It was great, we had so much fun together." she concluded, resting her hand on his leg.
"Yeah." James agreed, hoping people didn't notice the way his cheeks flushed when he felt her touch. "Joy's an amazing partner in crime, we were the dream team. I'm very thankful for the time we spent together."
"Do you have any funny on set stories you could share with us?"
"Joy used to taunt me all the time because of the Britney Spears poster I kept in my trailer."
Joy broke into a fit of laughter, remembering the weird semi-nude picture of a 19-year-old Britney Spears that was taped to the mirror in his trailer everyone in the cast and crew had made fun of him for.
"During one of our infamous rain scenes we had been kissing for about five minutes or so without stopping and no one would say cut. Eventually we stopped, completely drenched and cold, noticing no one was behind the cameras. As it turned out, Sophia had brought Patch with her to work and everyone was playing with him outside. It was really embarrassing and awkward because we had to explain to Mark and the crew what we had been doing while dripping wet." She hid behind James, trying to avoid everyone's gaze after her confession.
The fans broke into hysterics, typing quickly on their phones, letting everyone in the fandom know about the story no one ever heard of until now.
"If this is how they react to what we're saying imagine what will happen when you post the picture." James laughed as Joy gained composure.
"Since we're discussing kisses, it's been five years since the last Naley kiss. Would you consider kissing one more time for the fans?"
James' eyes grew wide as he was left completely speechless. Of course he had thought about kissing her again, but not in front of everyone, not a stage kiss. A kiss like the one they shared that afternoon when no one would say cut. He never told her, but he had noticed the set was empty way before he reluctantly stopped and moved away from her.
Joy thought about her next move briefly before softly grabbing his face and slowly kissing his cheek. She knew he always blushed when she improvised, but she had no idea about the effect she had on him.
"There you go. A Naley kiss."
Everyone in the room swooned over the perfect pair, clapping before the next question was posed.
Backstage, Shantel and Rob were watching the panel on a TV set up for that purpose. She was wearing the clown nose, as promised, and he rubbed his hands against each other, overjoyed by the turn of events.
"Want to make another bet?" he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I'm pretty sure I'll probably lose and I'm not willing to wear this thing ever again." Shantel sighed in response.
"Oh come on!" Robert whimpered when Joy pecked James' cheek.
"What's wrong?" Sophia sat down next to the blonde best friends, eating an apple.
"They had the perfect opportunity to kiss and she went for the cheek!" he protested.
"Rob's very passionate about James and Joy's platonic relationship." Shantel explained.
"They do make a really cute couple." Sophia agreed, leaning back on the couch.
"James is too shy to do anything about his 13-year-long crush and Joy seems to have no idea he practically faints whenever she looks his way. We seriously need to intervene."
"This is exactly like that Anne Hathaway movie where the main characters are friends for twenty years before finally shacking up together. They'll come around to it."
"VanSanten, Anne dies in the end. They could've had it all without having to wait twenty years." Rob reasoned, rolling his eyes.
"Don't go all Hitch on them, Buckley." Shantel warned.
Sophia chuckled, recording a snap of them giving each other pointed looks. "Let me know if you need help setting them up." She added.
Meanwhile, James and Joy took one last question before the Q&A panel ended, giving them some time off before photo ops.
"Joy, which one of your songs do you enjoy the most performing? Could you maybe give us a preview of what we are to expect for the concert tomorrow?"
As Joy sang, James listened attentively, her angelic voice soothed his broken heart and he'd give anything to hear her sing all night long. Her lively eyes locked with his and she rested her head on his shoulder, his signature cologne invading her senses. She finally felt at home.
When they got back to the green room, James opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by her phone ringing.
"It's my mom. Maria must want to talk to me. We'll see each other later at the photo ops, alright sailor?" Joy winked, before reaching up and hugging him, answering her phone and vanishing from his sight.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."