A/N: I recently changed this story to a four-shot, because I got an idea for another pairing. So this story will now have four chapters, and I think I'll end it with that. This second one is Jonah/Sinead. I had been meaning to post this as a separate one-shot on Valentine's Day, but I couldn't, so I was almost not going to write it. But then I got the idea for this story, and I decided to add it in here. I was going to post this yesterday on White Day, but I had homework and I just recently got my laptop fixed, so I couldn't. I hope you'll still like this one. Just pretend it's White Day… The words in italics are separate lyrics to different songs of Jonah's.
Disclaimer: I don't own The 39 Clues
Draw my name on your heart,
and never, ever forget me
February 14
The first time they met he had been trying to sell her chocolates in a heart shaped box. She had slammed the door in his face in response.
But let's back up first, shall we?
Jonah Wizard was not the wealthiest teenager in Boston. Sure, he might wear gold chains around his neck that should have caused his head to fall off, and yes, he wore several gold rings on his fingers, but what most people didn't know was that they were all fake. Really, Jonah could barely afford to buy a candy bar from the local grocery store.
But no one needed to know that, right?
Jonah's family wasn't rich. They lived in a two room apartment just a few blocks away from the college he went to, and even then he had to keep up his grades to maintain his scholarship. Girls didn't give him a passing glance, (which didn't make any sense to him. After all, he was the handsomest gentleman on campus) and the other fellows didn't even bother to invite him over to their house to watch the big game or play a friendly game of basketball. Really, the only person who would give him the time of day was the eighty-year-old woman next door who could really use a shower. And a new hearing aid.
Honestly. His life was a mess.
He was just an amateur musician trying to get by. He wrote his lyrics in his songbook and wrote the piano notes in an old notebook that he hadn't used since middle school. It was pathetic, but he was the last person who would admit that.
He had been trying to get a record deal for the last year, but no one would give him a chance. To them, he was just another poor unfortunate fellow who needed to find a new dream. Well, he didn't want a new dream. Music was his life. Take that away from him and he was nothing but plastic gold chains and cheap gold rings.
So that was why he found himself standing in front of a lovely one-story house with cute little flowerbeds and purple and white paint. It was a little too girly for his taste, but he had to admit, it looked better than his place.
He clutched the heart shaped box of chocolates closer to his heart and sighed with a little too much depression. Here he was, standing in front of what he was pretty sure was a cute girl's house, holding a box of chocolates- shaped like hearts for goodness sake- and on Valentine's Day with no girlfriend whatsoever. He looked up at the door in front of him. Maybe it was his lucky day.
Or not, since he was, after all, trying to sell chocolates to some random stranger who may or may not be a cute girl.
He rang the doorbell and mentally prepared himself for whoever was behind the door.
He was not disappointed.
She was cute, a little tall, but cute nonetheless. She had auburn hair tied up in a neat ponytail, and freckles dotted her face. Green eyes looked at him warily, and she was a lot prettier than he had expected. She reminded him of another green-eyed girl he knew from high school. But sadly she was taken, (girls, it seemed, really did fall for British accents) and this girl seemed a lot more confident than she had. She didn't fit the house décor, however, but that didn't bother him in the slightest. She raised an eyebrow at him, obviously waiting for him to say something. He shot her a blinding grin and said:
"Hey, sweetheart. Want to buy some chocolates?"
She took one glance at the box in his hands, and slammed the door in his face.
We'll be together forever and always,
because we promised each other, right?
February 18
He saw her near the fountain a few days later.
He was walking across his college campus to get to his next class, when he caught a glimpse of bright auburn hair near the giant fountain near the science department. He tried to hide his grin. Perhaps his luck was changing after all. He walked over to her confidently, and at a leisurely pace, trying not to make it seem like he was excited to see her.
"Hey, sweetheart. Remember me?"
She turned, instantly frowning when she saw him. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"
He put a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "I'm hurt. I thought you'd remember the charming guy who tried to give you his heart on Valentine's Day." He gave her a scolding look. "That door hurt by the way. And my heart was quite delicious if you wanted to know."
"I didn't, but thanks for the information," she responded sarcastically. She fixed him with her piercing stare. "What do you want?"
He gave her a casual smile. "Can't a guy just walk up to a girl and talk for no apparent reason? What's wrong with trying to make friends?"
"It didn't seem like you were trying to be friends last time."
"That was Valentine's Day. I couldn't resist." He gave her the puppy dog eyes, making her roll her eyes. "Come on, can't we start over?"
She pursed her lips and gave him a wary look. "I don't trust guys who wear fake jewelry. It's kind of a turn off for girls."
He grinned, already liking this girl. "I'll buy you a thousand real diamonds if you'll just give me the time of day."
"It's ten in the morning. I'll expect those diamonds by tomorrow."
"Anything for you."
You can break my heart as often as you want,
but I'll always love you no matter what
March 13
"Nice house."
He let himself in through the front door, taking in the warmth and the smell of cookies as he walked into the living room. "Reminds me of my grandma's house."
"Ha, ha, very funny," she said sarcastically. Sinead- for that was her name- walked out of the kitchen towards him, her hair in the usual ponytail. He thought Sinead was a cute name, and her last name, Starling, just made it even cuter. She obviously didn't think so, however, seeing as when he had told her that, she had stepped on his foot and told him to never say that again.
So it was never brought up after that.
"How did you get in here?" she frowned, taking in his appearance. He wore a black trench coat that went down to his knees, for it was quite cold outside. The usual gold jewelry were nowhere in sight, and he found himself missing the weight of it on his neck and the feeling of it on his fingers.
"I've got a key. You gave it to me, remember?" He dangled the silver key on his finger, showing it for her to see.
Her frown deepened. "I don't remember ever giving you one."
He grinned. "That's the first sign of old age, sweetheart."
She scowled. "Shut up, idiot."
His grin widened. He plopped himself down on her couch, ignoring the look she shot him. "I like your house, Starling. It's cute. I wouldn't expect you to live in one like this."
She was already walking towards the kitchen as she said, "My parents lived here before they moved to New Orleans. I decided it was better than living in one of those dorms on campus."
Jonah raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with those?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Have you seen them?"
"Not all houses can be as cute as yours is, Starling," he teased.
"I'll show you cute," she muttered as she walked into the kitchen.
"I don't think you can get any cuter!" he called back to her, glancing over his shoulder from his position on the couch.
"I'll throw this hot tray at you, Wizard, I swear!"
A love made out of paper hearts
is stronger than love made out of gold
April 4
"Origami?" Sinead raised an eyebrow at him as she watched him fold a paper crane. He was surprisingly good at it. She didn't think he was good at anything but breaking into her house, (no matter how many times she had changed the lock and hid the key, he'd always managed to get in somehow). She looked down at the dozens of paper cranes on the table around him; multi-colored and perfectly folded. "I didn't know you knew how to do origami."
He grinned up at her. "What can I say, Starling? I'm full of surprises."
"It would seem so," she mused, watching as his hands skillfully folded the paper into a crane. She picked an orange one from the table and held it carefully in her hand. "Why are you making so many of these?"
He paused in his folding and looked up at her contemplating face. "Have you ever heard of the Japanese legend about folding a thousand paper cranes?"
She frowned as she looked down at the orange crane in her hand. "I've heard of it."
"Well, it says that if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you'll be granted a wish." He grinned up at her. "I'm hoping my luck gets better after this."
Sinead raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "And you believe that will work?"
Jonah shrugged and went back to folding. "Wouldn't hurt to try, right?"
She watched him work in silence for a moment, watching as he finished folding the blue paper crane and going on to the next one. "And if this works," she said. "what will you wish for?"
He set down the crane he was working on and gave her a warm smile. "Isn't it obvious? A thousand years of happiness with you."
Poison me, break me, kill me;
but I'll never leave you alone
Every so often they would get into fights. All friends did eventually, but that didn't mean Jonah liked them. It consisted of Sinead slamming the door in his face, (he was actually quite used to it now) and Jonah sitting in his room, contemplating whether or not to just give up his pride and call her to apologize, even when it wasn't his fault. But he never did, seeing as his pride was bigger than Antarctica, and Sinead was scary when she was angry. He would always get over their fights about an hour later, and he would soon forget what they had fought about. He would give her a couple of days to cool off, and then he would ring her doorbell, (instead of breaking in, mind you. He had some decency) and hand her a box of chocolates, heart shaped and all. She would accept them and punch him in the arm, telling him she couldn't be bought by chocolates but inviting him in and sharing them with him anyway.
It worked.
Their relationship was complicated.
He liked to think her insults were signs of affection.
We're the story that never ends, darling,
'cause we keep writing new chapters
She liked books.
He liked magazines.
She liked classical and jazz music.
He liked rap and pop.
She liked school.
He… not so much.
She liked chocolate.
He liked chocolate.
That was what it all started with.
He liked to take it as a sign.
You wanted a fairytale,
I have you a happy ending
July 23
He moved in that day.
His aunt Leila and his cousin Phoenix were moving in with his mother and father. Their house had become infested with termites, (Jonah thought it was a load of crap, but he didn't say anything) so they had decided to move in with Jonah's parents. He had been promptly kicked out to make room.
Okay.
So it didn't happen exactly like that. There had been a lot of pleading and crying and apologizing to him, but he would always say he was kicked out. It made him seem more like a rebel.
When Sinead had found out, she had begrudgingly allowed him to stay with her.
"Just until you find your own place," she had said before he had even responded. "Don't think I'm letting you stay with me, because I'm not. I just don't want to be responsible if I find you living in a box in an alleyway or something."
He had grinned at her, causing her to slap him upside the head.
He didn't even mind.
I wrote you a song,
and knew nothing could go wrong
November 7
It was official.
He had a record deal.
Of course, it wasn't as easy as he made it sound like. It had taken months of careful planning and sleepless nights, but he had finally managed to get one. He had written the perfect song, they had told him. And he couldn't have been happier to hear it. Finally, his dream had come true, and that might sound cliché, but it was true. He had dreamt about this day for years, and finally, finally, it was working out for him.
And it was even better than he had expected it to be.
The lyrics in his songbook were finally able to come to life, and the piano notes were finally able to come off of their pages.
He couldn't mess this up.
"Isn't this great, Sinead?" he asked, shooting his friend a grin as they walked into the recording studio. "You're talking to a soon-to-be superstar."
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. But she was smiling. "I never thought I'd see the day." She playfully elbowed him in the side, making him wince in mock hurt.
"Told you have to faith in me," he said, his grin widening.
"Yeah," she said softly. "I should have, huh?"
I would die for you,
because I have faith that you'd bring me back
January 4
She was watching him slip away.
Sinead watched Jonah sing in the recording studio, a closed-eyed smile on his face. He was doing what he loved.
So she should have been happy, right?
But the thing was, she wasn't. He had spent hardly any time with her over the past few months, and he felt like a stranger to her when he was with her. Where was the boy who had held the heart shaped box of chocolates in his hands? Where was the boy with the stupid cheesy pickup lines? Where was the boy who would break into her house and make himself at home when he could have been at his real home?
Was he gone?
And as she watched him behind the glass, she knew that he was.
"Hey, sweetheart. Want to buy some chocolates?"
I wished upon a star for someone to love,
and my wish came true when you came along
She wasn't expecting him.
It was raining heavily outside, the noise blocking out the sound of the television. It wasn't as if she was listening to it anyway. She had her legs curled up beneath her, a wool blanket wrapped around her, and an aura of self-wallowing depression around her.
The aura was blue.
Blue was the color of depression, right?
So she hadn't expected to hear a frantic knocking on her door. She had at least expected a ring of the doorbell.
But no, just frantic knocking on the door.
She took her time getting up, letting the blanket fall to the floor and the television play silently in the background. She didn't even bother looking through her peephole and just opened the door, letting the cold wet air hit her face.
"Sinead?"
She blinked at the soaking wet figure before her. He was wearing a black hoodie with no traces of gold in sight, but it was Jonah. She was sure of it.
"Jonah?"
He grinned sheepishly at her and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey, sweetheart. Want to buy some chocolates?"
He held out a chocolate bar in his hand. The wrapper was wrinkled and shined with dew, but it looked eatable.
He gave her a nervous chuckle when she made no move to take it from him. "I killed the record deal."
A feeling of shock spread through her, but she let him talk, her mind working slower than usual. She was supposed to be the girl who could say anything, who spoke her mind and was able to come up with a plan for anything. But no words came to mind; no plans; and so she just stood in the doorway in her pajamas, letting the rain-soaked boy talk.
"We had different artistic visions," he said, not taking his eyes off of her. "We… didn't agree. Especially about schedules."
She tried to ignore the fluttering in her heart from those words.
"I've realized that I've been neglecting you." He tried to give her a confident laugh, but it came out nervous and guilty. "Not that I think you've minded. I bet you were just waiting for a chance to get rid of me, right?" He pulled down his hood and tried for a smile. "But you're not getting rid of me that easily, Starling. Best friends forever and always, right?"
He held out the chocolate bar again, and this time she took it. She stared down at it and said, "If you leave me again, I'll cook you in my oven."
His posture relaxed and he gave her his usual casual grin. "'Cause my heart tastes good, right?"
I'll never forget you,
because my heart will remember you always
February 14
Jonah watched as Sinead opened the door. A young man about their age stood on the doorstep, a box of heart shaped chocolates in his hand. He had blonde hair spiked up like a shark fin, and a physique that even Jonah found intimidating. He looked uncomfortable standing there, and obviously wanted to be anywhere but where he was then. But Jonah knew that the guy would be appealing to the ladies, and Jonah tried to hide his jealousy, because he just didn't get jealous.
"Hello, ma'am," he said nervously, clutching the box of chocolates in his hands. "Would you like to buy some chocolates?"
She promptly slammed the door in his face.
She turned to Jonah who had an amused smile on his face. "What?" she demanded.
He tipped his chair back on two legs, gave her an easy smile, and said in a slow drawl, "You got something against gorgeous salesmen, sweetheart?"
She gave him a glare and said, "Ones who sell chocolate."
"What about me?"
She paused for a moment, and then said, "I wouldn't have let you in my house if that was the case."
"Does that mean I get a kiss?"
She smirked. "You're not that lucky, Wizard."
But he wouldn't let her go that easily. As she passed him, he grabbed her arm and pressed his lips to hers. He gave her a smile and whispered, "A thousand paper cranes."
Make a wish, okay?
And wish for me
And the song fades to a perfect melody.
Words are everything
Music is never black and white
Dreams are golden
And love is forever
~Fin~
A/N: I rushed this to tell you the truth. So it probably sucks. Sorry about that…
And yes, Amy is the green-eyed girl from high school, and Ian is the guy with the British accent. Hamilton is the salesman.
I couldn't resist.
Next up: Jake/Amy: The first time I met you was in Paris, and I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you.
Translation: I met you on the streets of Paris
[and it was the best day of my life]
