A/N: Surprise! I've got a new story for you all today. I was looking back at some of the reviews for Prodigal Son recently, as they were super sweet and always make me feel warm and fuzzy. That made me remember how I asked you guys if you'd be interested in a story with a living, grown Joanie Lyman. An overwhelming majority of you said yes, so, here we are!
I'm still very focused on EDC right now, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to put this little intro out there and see what you all think of this AU.
Happy reading!
Rating: T
Reviews: This story exists because of reviews, as do all my others and their updates. You guys inspire me.
Disclaimer: If only, if only, if only...
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Joanie Lyman sits at the keyboard in her sparsely furnished faculty apartment, focused intently on the score in front of her. She plays measure 132 for the sixteenth time, and sighs. It's just not right. Given, that may have something to do with the fact that she's playing what she intends to be the violin part on a cheap keyboard, by itself, instead of on a Stradivarius violin accompanied by the rest of the orchestra. Nonetheless, she can still feel that it's wrong. She's always been able to hear an entire orchestra in her mind, and right now, all of the players are screaming at her that the violin part is completely rupturing the piece. She erases the measure and starts from measure 131 for the sixteenth time.
She's jarred from this cycle by her door flinging open abruptly, and an unkempt-as-per-usual thirty year old steps inside with a broad grin. "Hey, sis!"
Joanie places her hand over her heart. "Jesus Christ, didn't you ever learn to knock?"
"Why?" He asks, nonplussed, as he places his bag on the sofa and approaches her piano bench.
"You don't live here."
"We're family."
"Family still has to knock, Joshua."
"Whatever."
She rises from her bench and engulfs him in a hug, finally allowing a smile to spread across her face. "I thought you wouldn't be here for another few hours."
"Surprise."
"Your meeting was cancelled?"
"Moved. It's tomorrow morning."
"Hey, that's great! We've got the whole night."
"We do?"
"No. Crap." She rubs her forehead. "I've got rehearsal."
He smiles. "There it is."
"How'd you know?"
"You're always forgetting plans."
"Me?"
"It's a family trait, I'll give you that." He flops onto her sofa. "How's the orchestra shaping up, by the way?"
"They're good." Joanie tells him, settling into an armchair. "They're... They're Juilliard, Josh, they're amazing."
"You don't sound so enthused."
She bites her lip. "I don't think they take me very seriously."
"Is it a sexist thing or an age thing?"
"Who knows."
"They'll come around." He assures her.
"I hope so." A little over a year ago, Joanie had taken a job as a temporary professor at Juilliard, her alma mater, while she was trying to get some things in her life in order. One semester turned into two, and suddenly, when their orchestra director announced his retirement in the spring, she found herself applying. She was too young for it, too green, but she showed promise so the administration took a chance on her. She's still working under the title of "interim director," but she hopes to change that sometime soon. It's now October, and she's spent the past two months throwing herself into the job.
Josh casts his eyes around her apartment. She's lived here for over a year, and yet it looks much the same as the day he'd helped her move in. There are only a few pictures on the shelf, one of which he's proud to see is of the entire family at his law school graduation. The rest are of Emma. "I like what you've done with the place."
She extends her leg as far as it will reach to kick him. "Like it's any worse than yours. Yours is practically unlived in."
He can't argue with her there. His eyes linger on a photo of his niece playing with a puppy. "How's Emma?"
Joanie's expression hardens considerably. She draws her knees up onto the chair with her. "She's good. School's going well."
"Third grade this year, right?"
"Right." Joanie confirms.
"You seen her recently?"
She twiddles her wedding ring. "A few weeks ago, now. I'm hoping to head over there for fall break in a couple weeks."
"You and Graham are still..."
"Yeah." She confirms quietly.
Josh frowns. He stands up and makes his way into the kitchen, intent on getting a glass of water. Over the counter, he calls bluntly, "So are you guys getting a divorce, or what?"
She whips around to stare at him. A painful lump rises in her throat at the question. She chokes out, "Are you ever going to learn some tact, or what?"
He tilts his head, pretending to consider the question. "Probably not."
Listelssly, she flips her legs over the arm of the armchair and stares at the ceiling. "I don't know, Josh. It's complicated."
"Sure."
"What? It is!"
"I know it is, Joanie. But you guys can't just be 'separated,' or whatever, forever. Something's gotta give, and Emma..."
She swallows painfully. "I know."
He holds up one hand as he resumes his place on the couch. "I'm sorry. Just thought I'd ask."
"No, it's okay. We haven't talked much recently."
"Yeah. We're not so good with the phone calls."
"As mom constantly reminds us." She mutters.
He smiles. "Nobody's good enough with phone calls for mom."
She smiles a little, too. "How's work?"
"Good, good. I think the teacher's union stuff that I'm doing here will be really good for us. If we can get their endorsement down the line..."
"They're not prepared to endorse yet, are they?"
"We're not technically running yet."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean there can't be some sort of back room, handshake type-"
"No. They're not ready to endorse us yet."
Joanie shrugs. "Well, John Hoynes has never screamed 'cares about education.' Give it time, he needs to assert his position to the public."
"Joanie?"
"You already knew that, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
She smiles. "I keep forgetting how ridiculously smart you are. You're always going to be my lost little brother, no matter how many degrees and accolades you may have."
"And how many inches taller than you I am."
"I hate that you're a frickin' genius. It's annoying, you know? Like, we get it. You're Lyman child 2.0, with fewer glitches and a brighter future. Calm down already."
He shakes his head with a smirk, knowing she's joking. "I don't have fewer glitches."
"Actually, yeah, that's for sure. What was I thinking?"
He pulls his backpack toward him. "I brought you some M&Ms with the seal of the President."
"Hey, cool! But if you don't mind, I think I'll save them for-"
"I brought a box for Emma, too. In case I don't get up to Rhode Island anytime soon."
Joanie tears open the box and pops an M&M in her mouth contentedly. She misses her own little 'M&M,' as she used to call her. "I've missed you, little brother."
"Yeah. Back at you."
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Josh is working at Joanie's kitchen table at seven pm, when the door flings open dramatically, in much the same way that it had when he came in earlier in the day. Joanie had left for rehearsal some time ago, but he half-expects it to be her, stopping in to retrieve something she forgot. Who else could it be, after all?
"Hey Joanie, it's me!" Someone shouts from the living room. "If you're home, I'm going to grab some milk for my cereal, and if you're not, then, great, I'm still stealing from you!"
Josh stands up so he can look over the counter, and he sees a twenty-something blonde girl taking her coat off in the living room. She doesn't notice him, as after she takes off her coat, she immediately starts taking off her pants. His eyes practically bug out of his head, and he stares at her incredulously for a few seconds before regaining some common sense and looking away to protect her privacy.
The girl continues shouting obliviously as she ditches her pants on the living room floor. "And if you're going to admonish me for eating cereal for dinner, I want you to remember that I'm poor and busy and I don't have a lot of time to work with. Nor do I have a working stove. You can feed me some other time. Also, I'm taking a pair of your sweat pants because the damn laundromat machines can't seem to actually finish a cycle, so all of mine are still steeped in soap."
The girl takes a deep breath and paces down the hallway toward Joanie's room, still totally oblivious to Josh's presence. She knocks on the door once before entering. He hears her mutter, "Great, guess I was talking to myself again."
A minute later, she emerges in a pair of Juilliard sweatpants and heads for the kitchen. She stops in the doorway, looking as if she's just been struck by lightning. She stares at Josh intently, and he stares back. "What the hell?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. You just didn't give me a lot of time to announce my presence, there, and-"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
He opens his mouth incredulously. "I should be asking you the same question!"
The girl ignores him, still looking intensely alarmed. "Are you with Joanie? Oh my god, is she cheating on Graham? I know they're having problems, but I never thought-"
"For god's sake." Josh interrupts her. "I'm her brother."
"You're... Oh." That seems to settle her slightly. "Oh, okay." Her hands fall hesitantly to her sides, but she continues to watch him warily. "Josh, right?"
He supposes he shouldn't be surprised that she knows his name, if she's on good enough terms with his sister to barge into her apartment. "Yeah."
She scrutinizes him. "Okay. I can see the resemblance now."
He rolls his eyes. "Glad my story checks out." He says sarcastically.
She gives him a reproachful look. "You scared me."
"I scared you? You're the one that just broke into my sister's apartment."
"The door was unlocked." She defends.
"Who are you, anyway?"
"Me?" She continues to look flustered. "I'm Donna Moss."
"Okay, Donna Moss. And you feel comfortable breaking into my sister's apartment because...?" He prompts.
"Oh. I'm her neighbor. I have been for a year now, we've gotten pretty close. I'm a student here." She says unnecessarily.
"Huh. I didn't know professors could be friends with their students. At least, not like this." He certainly can't think of a professor he'd had that he'd feel comfortable barging into the home of and taking off his clothes.
"Well, she's not my professor. We were mostly acquainted as neighbors, so, it was different."
"Okay," he says slowly, still not sure he has a firm grasp on the situation. Maybe Joanie can explain it to him later.
She frowns as she continues to watch him, something occurring to her. "Did you... Did you see me change, just then?"
"A little." He admits.
She balks. "And you didn't say anything?"
"Well when you just come in and start stripping-"
She blushes. "I needed to change!"
"In the living room?"
She stumbles. "I didn't know you were here!"
"Obviously."
She huffs. "Can I just get some milk? I've got somewhere to be in like ten minutes."
He glances at her attire. "That requires sweatpants?"
"Yes, actually." She moves past him to the fridge. "Rehearsal."
He squints at her. "Orchestra? Because if so, I hate to break it to you, but I think you're running more than a little late."
"No." She shakes her head. "I'm in the musical."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Rehearsal started at five. That was vocal rehearsal. Now we've got dance, so..." She gestures to her sweatpants.
"Ah." He nods. "It's all coming together now."
"We've got a dinner break until 7:15, so that's what I'm doing here."
"Pilfering milk?"
"And sweatpants."
"Right." He watches as she retrieves the milk from the fridge and opens her mouth for a hasty goodbye. Before she can say anything, he interrupts, "Just to represent my sister in this situation, you really shouldn't eat cereal for dinner. Especially when you're about to, you know, dance."
She raises her eyebrows in surprise. He isn't even sure what compelled him to say that, but he likes the challenging expression it elicits from her. She flicks her eyes at his very obvious empty cereal bowl on the table. "You're one to talk."
She's quick. He likes that. "Yeah, but I'm sitting around doing nothing. I don't need sustenance."
"Everyone needs sustenance," she counters easily. "But, lucky for you, cereal is sustenance."
He holds up his hands in defeat and sinks back into his chair at the kitchen table. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you. I'm sure it's what my sister would want."
"She's maternal that way." Donna agrees. She stands in the doorway, milk in hand, considering. "I'll probably eat again after rehearsal lets out at nine. So this is just a pre-dinner."
"Glad you've got it planned out."
"I mention the time, just in case you and Joanie wanted to, I don't know, order a pizza. That way I can come over and meet you properly. Joanie can introduce us, and I can prove to you that I'm not some creep who steals from her."
"Trying to get free food out of her yet again, I see."
She rolls her eyes. "I have to go."
"You can stop by later. We'll see about feeding you."
She grins. "It was nice to meet you. Unofficially."
"Yeah, you too."
"I'll see you later."
"Try to keep your clothes on next time."
She snorts. "I'll try to restrain myself."
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This is kind of fun, don't you think? I'm enjoying it, anyway. I can't wait to hear what you all think.
As for all the Graham/Emma/Joanie stuff, I'll get more into that later. I intend to have this story focus, at least for some of the time, on Josh and Joanie battling some of their personal issues simultaneously. I didn't want to delve too much into it in the first chapter though because, even if I think I write pretty okay OCs, I don't want to overload you to start.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think and if you're interested in me continuing this! EDC is still the number one priority, but I thought this would be a fun little side project.
Thanks for reading :)