For All the Wrong Reasons

A/N Okay so this is my first Little Women fan fiction but I thought I would give it try. I hope all those Laurie/Jo fans will read and let me know what they think. This takes place that fateful day of Laurie's proposal. I'm basing this off of the movie as I have never read the book. I'm messing with the timeline a bit and Beth has passed away by now and Meg is married but Amy has not left for Europe. This is simply the first chapter of I hope to be many more. Enjoy! Let me know if I should continue.

The Road Not Taken

Chapter One: Proposal Revisited

"Can you just see us; bashing around London together?" He asked with that smile that always warmed her heart.

She shook her head seeing a future where she looked so inadequate. Why couldn't he see what she saw? "I'm not fashionable enough for London. Oh Teddy you need someone refined and poised." She began.

Reaching out he took her face within his palms making her look up into dark brown eyes full of what she had never known before to be complete and unconditional love. "I want you." He whispered almost soft enough to be a whisper.

The words were so simple and yet so beautiful. She could never write a romance scene like this. She felt the tears come to her eyes at his admission. "Please… please don't ask me." She remarked feeling her breath slightly hitch. She couldn't bare the thought of him asking because God knew that she would not be able to deny him.

He searched her eyes feeling the only future he had ever seen for himself slipping away. She would not have him. She did not want him. How could he have misread all the signs? How could he have imagined her feelings for him?

Staring for a moment he saw the tears shining brightly in her chocolate orbs and watched her look away for just a moment the way she did when there was something more… something else that she dared not say. It was rare that she held her tongue but he knew her well enough to know that it was more than just a simple refusal. She was afraid… afraid of what was the question.

They remained silent her watching him as he read her like an open book. She could feel his eyes searching hers. Feel him looking into her and seeing all that she could not say. His thumbs brushing over her warm flushed cheeks he said nothing for moments on end.

The sound of nature seemed to become distant as he seemed to wait and yet it was he who she waited for to speak.

"I will not crush your dreams Jo. Becoming my wife will not mean that becoming a writer must come second. I can give you both." He remarked steadily not allowing her to look away. He felt her tense slightly knowing that he had read her thoughts accurately.

"I have… I have plans Teddy…"

"I know." He remarked. "I, who have become your dearest friend… do you think that I would ever try to take them away from you? I want nothing more than to help you. I know that I can." He stated. He saw her begin to shake her head as if not believing. "I can give this to you if you will let me, a home, security for your family, opportunities for your writing…" He listed off.

Tears were on her cheeks now. "Your heart," She whispered and saw him stop for a moment. There was no doubt that he would give that to her… he had given that to her since the moment they first met.

"And what would I give you?" She asked. "I care for you Teddy. I do. You are my dearest friend. You understand me better… better than almost anyone. But to feel that way… I don't know…"

"You will give me laughter in the morning. You will give me someone to quarrel with at night. We will have adventures in London Square and fights about absolutely nothing at all. You will give me your never ending company and a life of surprises Jo. Oh my dear sweet Jo… I do love you but if you are not ready for that then we shall be the best of friends and that is enough for me for I cannot imagine living my whole life with anyone else but you. And maybe someday you will come to feel for me what I have felt for you since the very start."

"And if I can't?" She asked him. "Oh Teddy you deserve… passion, happiness, someone that will take care of you long after youth has left us." She remarked.

"When have I had more passion then when I argue with you? What has ever given me more joy then when I'm spending my afternoons in your company? And who would take care of me better than my most loyal friend?" He asked.

"Oh Teddy… we are both so stubborn and we haven't even grown out of our youth."

"Then who better to grow old with and more stubborn than the person who knows you best?" He smiled seeing her relent. "Besides, would you rather be an old spinster with nothing but your cats to keep you?" He chuckled softly as she swatted him in the shoulder. The humor lightened the mood if only for a moment and he sighed deeply. "Let me keep you Josephine." He whispered letting his forehead come to rest on hers and closing his eyes if just for a moment and inhaling her ever present scent.

She felt his weight as he leaned into her. She watched the emotions run across his face. There they stood in the mid afternoon sun together. They had done it many times but never quite like this. His heart, his future were in her hands… Looking up she felt as if this was the first time that she had truly looked at Teddy… her dear sweet Teddy. Her very best friend was proposing marriage without the promise of requited love. How could she say yes when there were so many uncertain things circling about them? She opened her mouth ready to deny him and found that she simply couldn't.

Looking up into his face she realized for the first time that she simply could not deny him. Not this. He needed her. He needed her in his life, in this way. How could she turn her back on her friend? This wasn't about romance or obligation but simply one friend in need of the other. And in all truth perhaps she needed him too. Beth was gone, Meg newly married. Amy had been begging to go to Paris and with her golden locks and ever present poise it was merely a matter of time before it happened. Her mother wasn't the same and in all truth the house had stopped being a home for months. She hadn't put on a performance since the night she lost her sister and she had been lonelier than she had ever known. The decision was already made. She needed him.

"You must allow me to stay up as late as I like to write at night." She remarked suddenly.

His eyes opened immediately and he stared at her. "I will buy extra candles." He stated.

"And you must not get angry with me if I should burn a roast a night or two as I am not very adequate in the kitchen."

"I don't very much like roast anyhow." The smile was growing wider with each passing moment.

"And we must come back here to visit my family or they must come see us at least once a month." She listed off resolutely.

"As many times as you would like." He whispered staring into her.

She smiled even with all her doubts. "And you? What would you demand of me Laurie?" She asked.

Reaching out he brushed the wild tendrils of her hair behind her ear staring into her open face waiting for him. "No demand… just a request. When the day comes that your feelings for me change and you return my affections in full I only ask that you tell me because I believe that they will someday. I believe in my heart that there will come a day that you will come to live for me the way I live for you." He remarked softly seeing the doubts in her eyes. Leaning in he placed a chaste kiss on the center of her forehead allowing his lips to linger on her flesh. "Marry me Jo." He brushed the words against her temple.

Closing her eyes she nodded. "I will." She breathed out and felt his lips quirk into a smile against her skin.

"Say it again." He whispered.

"I will marry you Theodore Laurence."

With a sudden burst of excitement that he had been trying to hold onto he wrapped her tightly around the waist lifting her into the air catching her completely by surprise. The wild flowers that were in her hands were crushed between them as he twirled her around allowing her bare feet to dangle a good 24 inches off the ground.

"Teddy! Put me down right this minute!" She demanded. Her voice was stern but there was a gleam in her eye that couldn't be helped.

When he set her down he simply looked at her for a moment and watched as a fit of giggles came forth. "What is it?" He asked as her laughter began to subside.

"It is just… can you imagine Marmee's face when we tell her the news? Oh Teddy… this will be absolutely priceless!"