He froze as her fingers touched his jawline, turning his head toward her. He felt her lips touch his for the second time, though she had initiated this one. If he had thought kissing her before was magical, nothing felt like this one. He pressed into her, one of her legs on either side of his. Her hands were sliding up and down his back and …
His phone was ringing; the Ghostbusters theme song breaking into their kiss.
"Dammit, Danny," he growled, ripping the phone out of his pocket.
"What?" He asked, throwing it on speaker and dropping the device onto the counter beside Jazz.
"Someone's crabby."
"I'm busy," Tucker corrected.
"Whatever. Have you seen my sister?" Danny asked.
"Uh, no," Tucker answered, running his thumb over the outside of Jazz's thigh and she ran her fingers through his hair. "Why?"
"I need you to stop by the house and grab her and ghost hunting gear. Then, I need you to meet Sam and me at the mall."
"What's going on?"
"That ghost? The one that's been hurting people? Well, he's in there and I think this is our chance to get him. Hurry, okay?"
"Okay. I'll be there ASAP."
Neither of them said anything. They didn't have to. There was a job to be done.
They could kiss later.
I'm a rebel even if it's trouble
I'ma pull you out from the rubble
If I have to, I'm not afraid to
Save my heart for you
Jazz tiptoed around the lower level of the mall. Sam was on the floor above her, with Danny on the highest level. Tucker was outside, getting codes to the security cameras from a frightened security guard. No one had seen the ghost leave but there was no evidence that it was still inside the mall either.
She had just passed the hat store when she heard a scream. Suddenly, the ghost – in all his angry glory – was just a few feet away from her, a wailing Sam held up in front of him as a shield.
"Sam!" Her brother's voice seemed to ring from all corners of the building.
Jazz was orienting her weapon, wondering if she would have an opportunity to shoot when the ghost took off in the other direction. She couldn't be sure if he had noticed her and so she tried to be as quiet as possible when she took off after it.
Danny was suddenly flying level with her.
"Get out," he commanded. "It's getting too dangerous. Stay with Tucker."
"Okay," Jazz nodded and switched directions, heading for the nearest exit.
She could see the doors when it happened. The building began to rattle and shake. She knew she couldn't possibly make the doors and get outside before the building came down, but she didn't know where else to go. She was in a wide open space. She began to sprint, her winter boots slipping on the tiles. She fell onto her hands and knees, crawling in order to keep going forward.
It wasn't enough.
The walls began to collapse and she couldn't help but scream.
Tell me I'm wrong
Turn around and run
Still gonna save my heart for you
Tucker had heard Sam screaming – he would know that high pitched noise anywhere. He nearly started in the building, when he saw her pop up on the roof. She was near the edge, though the ghost was no longer paying attention to her. Tucker figured that Danny was on the opposite side of the roof. He waited for the upcoming battle to ensue, for Danny to save the day, and for everyone to come out safe and sound. Once that terribly predictable part of the day was over with, he was hoping to sneak away with Jazz and see just where the kiss from earlier was going to take them.
Only, the terribly predictable part of the day took a plot twist.
The ghost disappeared from the roof. Tucker watched Danny appear next to Sam. He watched his friend carry his girlfriend from the roof to stand in front of him.
"Is Jazz not out yet?" Danny asked immediately.
Tucker shook his head. "Should she have been?"
"Yeah. I gotta go back in anyway. Sam, you stay with Tucker."
"Danny –"
"Don't argue. He already grabbed you once and I can't risk –"
Danny was cut off by a loud noise – the sound of the mall beginning to collapse in on itself. There was a suspended moment in time when all the trio could do was stand there and watch the once-tall structure begin to fall apart. As debris began flying, Danny was the first to kick into action: rushing toward the building and to his sister, who was about to become trapped inside.
In his rush, Danny grew careless. A flying piece of lumber came for him and he was too focused on Jazz to notice it. The lumber was able to knock him unconscious, effectively taking out the one person who could get to Jazz the fastest, potentially saving her life.
Sam shrieked as Danny fell. Although, through her terror, she was still a trained ghost hunter. She was able to whip out her thermos and capture the escaping ghost before he had a chance to completely vanish.
The firemen, paramedics, and police who'd gathered at the scene earlier rushed forward – the paramedics toward Danny; the police and fireman to the settling-building, knowing that there was a girl trapped inside. Tucker joined the hoard of firemen, following their lead as they began to systematically move boards and other debris out of the way.
He moved things as quickly as he could, not wanting to think about what kind of shape Jazz could be in. He couldn't afford to think that anything was less than fine. His best friend was unconscious and his mother was in the hospital; he couldn't afford to have Jazz go anywhere.
"I heard something!" One of the fireman shouted, breaking Tucker from his dark thoughts.
"Jazz?" Tucker shouted, running to where the fireman had been standing.
"Tucker?" The voice was weak, so weak, but he could hear her.
"Stand back, kid," the fireman advised.
It killed Tucker to do it, but he took a few steps back and let the professionals do their job. It took an agonizing half an hour until Jazz was able to be safely free. Yet, when she was placed on her feet – cuts along her body and bruises already developing, but otherwise unharmed – he wouldn't have traded a second of that thirty minutes. Trading a second might have meant injuring her and he wouldn't have risked that for a moment.
"Thank God you're okay!" He exclaimed, seizing her in his arms.
She was trembling.
Her mouth sought out his and, as he kissed her, he felt her calm underneath of his palms.
"Disaster strikes and Tucker gets the girl," Sam quipped. "All's well that ends well … At least until Danny wakes up."
Tell me I'm wrong
Turn around and run
Still gonna save my heart for you
Oh oh
Oh oh
Tucker's world currently consisted of boxes.
There were boxes in the hallway and boxes piled along the walls. There were boxes under his feet and along the countertops. He was sick of seeing the square brown things and would have thrown them all out the window, were it not for two reasons: the Box Ghost and the fact that the majority of these boxes contained important possessions.
Tucker worked his way down the upstairs hallway to the master bedroom, where Jazz was happily unpacking their clothing into the walk-in closet and two dressers.
"Having fun?" He teased.
"Yes," Jazz responded. "Putting things in order and finding proper places for things is fun."
Tucker couldn't bring himself to agree with her. There was nothing fun about moving. There was nothing fun about packing and unpacking. The only perk, as far as he was concerned, was the fact that after years of university and living apart, they were finally moving in together. He was finally going to get to hold her every night.
It sounded like pure heaven.
"You're doubting me," Jazz sighed. "Pull up a box, then, and I'll show you just how much fun it can be!"
"It's only going to be fun if you end up naked," Tucker teased.
"Shush," Jazz scolded him.
Tucker laughed and pried open the top box. On the very top, was something he hadn't seen in many years (six, to be exact): his ancient Casper High sweatshirt. He touched the material, thinking of the night he'd given it to her. He couldn't believe that she'd kept it.
"Where are we putting sweatshirts?" He called to Jazz. She'd left the walk-in with a box of socks in order to put them in one of the dressers.
"Depends on who it belongs to! If it's yours, then it goes on your side at the back. If it's mine, my side at the back!" She returned.
Tucker hung it up on her side.
He stuck his head around the corner of the doorway, spying on Jazz. She spotted him and began grumbling.
"Don't you fold your socks together? How can you live with having a bunch of loose socks? Don't you care if they match? Come on, Tuck!" She admonished. She was expertly picking matching socks out of the boxed mess of socks, folding them together, and placing them neatly in the drawer.
Ordinarily, Tucker couldn't care less about Jazz folding his socks. However, there was something important hiding at the bottom of his socks (don't laugh, okay? He knows every guy hides it in the socks but he couldn't think of anywhere else to keep it, though now he was wishing he'd thought about it more because he knew she was about to find it) that he didn't know if either of them were ready to see. He knew that he would have used it, soon, but after they were settled into the house; after they had gotten used to this new layer, he would have added the next one.
It wasn't time.
But it was upon them.
She had just pulled out the sock with the thing inside of it.
"Seriously? Keeping things in your socks?" Jazz sighed and began to work the object out of the sock, oblivious to Tucker's shell-shocked expression. "Is this some teenage knick-knack?"
"Not quite," Tucker answered, finally come to life. He sprung forward. He knew that he had no hope of getting the ring box from her now, but at least he'd be right there when she realized what it was.
The green ring box burst into her palm. She popped it open and then they both just stood there, staring at it.
"Oh," Jazz finally breathed.
It was a beautiful ring. It was silver, her preferred colour, with one round diamond in the center, though there was a thin ring of diamonds surrounding the main one. On either side of the jewel, there was an almost buckle-like shape. The U was outlined in more jewels. From this shape, the band thinned out, though it still held onto the bling that the rest of the ring had.
"Oh," Jazz repeated. She didn't know what to say. She clearly wasn't supposed to find this and now, she was leaving it up to him to make the next move.
She wondered what he was going to say. She wondered if he was still going to take this opportunity and ask. Did she even want him to ask right now? They were just moving in together. But, she couldn't deny that she'd thought about marrying him. She couldn't say that she'd never thought about wearing a ring he'd bought, putting on a white dress, and then going on to spend the rest of her life with him.
She was hoping he would ask.
Tucker moved behind her, placing his arms around her waist to bring her into a backward hug. He didn't know what he should say. Should he ask? Was it something she wanted? Or would it seem like she had pushed it on him by finding it? Then again, if he closed the ring box up and hid it again, would the reaction be negative?
Jazz Fenton, he thought, you are absolutely impossible.
"So," he murmured into her ear. "What do you think?"
"What do I think about what?" Jazz replied.
Tucker nearly rolled his eyes. He brought one arm up so that it was running parallel with hers, his fingers lying the near the ring box. Plucking up a string of courage, he picked up the box and answered her with, "Marrying me, of course."
Then he was down on one knee. This wasn't where he had pictured the scene taking place (though he hadn't really had the faintest idea of where he was going to do it before this had happened). But, if she said yes, then kneeling on the floor of their new house, surrounded by boxes, was absolutely the perfect place for this event to occur.
"Jasmine Fenton, I love you," he grinned, "even if you're a gross girl."
She giggled.
"And I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes," she laughed.
Tucker slid the ring on her finger. They both took a moment to admire it on her hand before she jumped at him. They both slid to the floor, a tangle of kisses and limbs.
I want what I can't have
I'm gonna make you mine
"I probably sound like a broken record," Danny began, "threatening you if you hurt my sister –"
"I think I've done quite well these past eight years," Tucker defended himself.
"Well, yeah. Miracle of all miracles, she still likes you."
"Talk about miracles," Tucker chuckled, "Sam is still interested in you."
Danny smirked. "Well, with the baby on the way, she'll have to like me forever."
"Trapping your girlfriend?" Tucker joked. "Not cool."
Danny laughed. "Back to my original point. You're getting married today. So, divorce my sister and I really will have to kill you. Which would suck, you being my best friend and all."
Tucker shook his head. "I won't hurt her."
"Now, if she ever decides to leave your sorry ass, Sam and I will let you have the couch for a while, provided you baby sit for free."
"Thanks for the confidence, man."
"No problem," Danny agreed, slapping Tucker's bicep. "I think they're ready for us up at the altar."
Tucker took a deep breath and trailed after his best friend, waiting for the next part of his life to begin.
(-.-)
"I still say a black wedding dress would have been cute," Sam mused, fluffing out the bottom of Jazz's dress.
Jazz had fallen for a tea-length dress. It was made of white lace. Sheer white lace covered up to her collarbone and extended down her arms, though the lace dropped away in the back, exposing her bare skin down to her waist. The dress the fluffed as it transitioned from bodice to skirt, although the lace pattern continued throughout the entirety of the dress.
She looked exquisite in it.
"Well, when you get married, you can wear whatever colour dress you want," Jazz retorted.
"Sam?" Maddie squeaked. "Are you getting married?"
"No!" Sam answered firmly. "Danny's getting me to have a baby, he's not getting me to wear a ring too."
"Oh, please," Jazz rolled her eyes. "You wanted that baby before Danny ever mentioned the idea."
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to know that," Sam laughed.
"Ladies," Maddie called, getting their attention. "We're almost ready. It's time to line up."
Jazz's heart was thudding wildly as she took her place in the wedding procession, Jack coming up next to her.
"You look beautiful, Jazzy-pants."
"Thanks, Dad."
"All grown up … It's hard to believe that you were just a little tyke once who couldn't stand the thought of boys. Those were the days."
Jazz laughed.
"But he makes you happy, though I don't know if any of us saw this relationship coming …"
"Don't worry," Jazz interrupted him, knowing that her father would talk his way down the aisle. "We're going to take good care of each other."
"You better," Jack agreed. "Otherwise, Danny and I are going to have to fight over who gets to kill him."
Jazz would never understand their masculine ideals that lead her father and brother to want to enact violence on her suitors.
But she had no time left to think of it.
She was walking down the aisle. Her friends and family, his friends and family (including Tucker's pastel-clad, in remission, mother) were lined on either side of her, eyes all craned toward her. Jazz didn't so much as glance at the crowd; didn't feel the slightest bit nervous at just how many people were looking at her.
Because all she could see was Tucker.
She doesn't know what started it.
She doesn't know the moment she fell in love with Tucker Foley, though she damn well knew the exact moment she realized she had to have him forever. Now, it's years later and that feeling had only grown, as she was sure it would in the many years to come. It was so easy to be in love with someone like him, when he was not just the love of her life, but her best friend.
Now, all they had left to say 'I do'.
No matter what it takes
Here's the last chapter. Thanks for reading! The song is Save My Heart by Jason Reeves. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky.
~TLL~
