A\N Hey guys! ^-^ Awwww! Thank you so much for all the love and reviews! :3 They just make me so happy and stufflies!
Okay reviewwwwwsss! :D
So to NerdyBarista, Yeah, I didn't really like Lightning in the series because of his narcissism, but I do enjoy writing for him. :P I know, finally, Staci is helping! WOO! Candy and Can are rather eccentric, but I don't think they would do anything too endangering. XD I know! I love Dakota and Sam! :( Whoever did it is an evil person! Haha, maybe it will be! And yes, Mike's an idiot if he didn't realize what that meant. Oh, thank you! I try to make long chapters when I can, but thank you for being so accepting of my shortness! XD Thank you! :D
Also to NTA FANFIC, Yes, we all just need to scream at Mike, 'ZOEY LOVES YOU!' xD
And to CharlieHarperFan88, Hi and welcome! ^-^ Oh, so do I! With a passion, I love Lightning and Ann Maria almost as much as Brick and Jo! I hope I can keep you interested! :D
Also to Awesome and I know it, Yeah, I loves me so Nirvana as well :3 Oh no! Dawn is not pregnant! Haha, yeah they're just planning ahead :) Thank you, and yes, poor Jo :(
Proceeding to CreepySheepy, I just watched Blainerific, and I died. It had to be one of the funniest things I've seen in my life! XD Oh, okay! I will try to do your 'DVD Fiasco' justice! :) Maybe it's him, and maybe not! We'll just have to see!
Continuing on to White Chocolain's Power, Nice new name! :D Oh yes, Mike was rather silly in thinking that, wasn't he? XD Oh my, Candy and Cane are just plain weird! I love Staci as well, and I'm quite depressed that she didn't get much of a part in the series :( I know, I love Lightning and Ann Maria, but you're right! NO ONE can trump Brick and Jo! ^-^ Haha, thank you! XD
Also to Spliced-up-Angel, I know, I think that they would still love each other after everything they would go through! :D Oh, and thank you! :)
And to Smiles1998, Oh thank you! :') I love the word amazing! :D And don't worry, you'll find out soon enough! Don't hurt yourself too much! ^-^
Moving on to Ipink Cornflakes, I love them as well, and I will try to update as frequently as I can! :D
Also to Aradomperson, Oh no, it's fine. You don't always have to review! :) I know, I love Brick so much, I'm really glad that he helps most everyone! :D I'm glad that Ann Maria told him how it was xD I know, I think that Jo would call him a woman in real life! Haha! :D I know, and she really wanted to say something sweet, but that just wouldn't be Jo! Haha, Jo was just a bit startled because she didn't want to show him her weak side! Anncing? I like it! All their little love-romance-couple things are too cute! :D I know, but that's what makes Jo, Jo, and she just had to suck it up and move on :) Oh yes, we'll just have to see who likes breaking happy couples up! :P Awww! :3 Thank you!
And to TBC, Hi! :D Oh, thank you! ^-^ I love Brick so much, and Dawn and Jo are definitely close behind x) Oh good, I hate writing characters OOC, so thank you for liking it! Thank you, trust me, I squeal every time I write for them, they make me so happy! :D I love Mike and Zoey as well, even though I'm not that big of a fan of Zoey, and I love Lightning and Ann Maria as well :) I love both Dott and Bawn, so I didn't care, as long as it made my readers happy :) I know, I wanted to write her name as 'Anne', but my friend pointed out that it is in fact spelled as 'Ann' and every time I write her name, I write it as 'Anne' and my computer auto-corrects it xD Oh that's okay, I'm a big time eavesdropper! And because I love Nirvana so much, I have to listen to them at least once a day, or I will be a grump for like, the rest of the week! XD And I love 'Heart Shaped Box', but 'All Apologies' is my all time favorite...EVER. Oh thank you! I will try to stay fabulous! :D Hahahaha!
Moving on to Mighty Penguin, Hello, and thank you! :D
Finally to MagicGoodsGenie, Hi, and welcome! :D Oh, sometimes I hate signing in as well! XD Thank you, I love them as well! :D Thank you, and I can't wait to see how things shake out as well! :)
Okay so this is a bit on the dramatic side, but I think you all will be really happy with this chapter! Finally, there are some answers, a relationship is formed, fights break out, and revelations are made! :D But yes, there is drama, but it adds to character development! XD So I hope you all can see past the dramatic parts and still love it! ^-^
Now, on to the storyyyyyy!
Brick POV
It had been a whole day since Jo had talked to me, and I was freaking out. Jo was rarely ever mad at me, and when she was, it was ugly. I didn't want her to not talk to me, because Jo was too important for me to lose.
"Lemme drive," A voice suddenly demanded. I snapped out of my guilty daze and glanced at Jo who was staring at me intently. Strangely, it made me elated that she was looking at me, even if it was through anger.
"Huh?" I answered, stupidly. For a moment, her hard stare was frightening me, but she then cracked a smile, and I instantly relaxed.
"Lemme drive, Brickhouse," She said gently, "You're hogging up the road," I smiled and pulled over. She took my seat and started the engine back up.
"Hey Jo, can I ask you something?" I asked tentatively. Lately, around Jo, I felt myself becoming nervous. You know, butterflies would cloud my stomach, my hands would become a clammy mess, and my throat would close up, leaving me speechless and above all, just plain nervous.
"Yeah," She shrugged, giving me a side glance.
"Why were you mad at me?" I questioned her, sounding sickly weak. She immediately paled as soon as the question left my mouth, and I hated myself for scaring her.
"I-I wasn't, idiot," She muttered. I furrowed my eyebrows and bit my lip.
"Then why didn't you talk to me for a day? I mean, if you were mad at me, please just tell me, I hate it when you're angry with me," I rambled on, feeling a red tint cover my face completely.
"Don't worry about it, maggot," She muttered, not looking at me.
"Jo, if something is wrong, you know you can always talk to me, right?" I said softly. She didn't answer for a moment. Her intense stare out onto the road before us was worrying me. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but I also knew I had feelings for her that just weren't friend-like. But if I kept trying to break through her impenetrable barriers that she so carefully put up, I'd freak her out even more.
"Jeez G.I. Joke, you really are a woman," She scoffed, her face lightening again. I cracked a small smile at her, and instantly relaxed. She was just being Jo, I had to calm down.
"Jo, Brick, stop driving for a moment! Zoey has an important message on her phone!" Dawn exclaimed suddenly. Jo looked at me, and I supplied her with a simple shrug. She pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the RV. She and I both made our way to the back where we sat in the booth. Mike and Zoey were on the bottom bunk propped up against each other, while Dawn was sitting on the top bunk with B rightfully by her side, and Sam in the lawn chair. Jo and I sat in the booth parallel to the bunk bed, in the same booth.
I felt my face burn as Jo's knee touched mine, and we were so close, her face was in kissing distance. But I couldn't think like that...I mean, even though I would like to kiss her, Jo would be immediately revolted by that. So I kept that to myself and tried to control my blush. Before Dawn spoke, she gave me a small, knowing smile, and that time, I smiled back to show her that I wasn't afraid to let her know.
I like Jo.
"Zoey please tell us your urgent message," Dawn smiled.
"Well, Ann Maria's group is coming to Cedar Point!" Zoey announced, her face dropped for a moment before she continued, "I'm not really sure why, but she, Staci and Lightning are coming!"
"Oh, so why did we need to know that?" Sam asked, looking as puzzled as the rest of us.
"Well, we have received some interesting news from Ann Maria..." Zoey trailed, looking intently at Sam.
"Out with it," Jo urged. It surprised me when her demand came out almost jokingly and Jo's face was decorated with a smile. I didn't know what the girls said to her, but I was elated that Jo had more friends than just me.
"Well Ann Maria talked to Dakota," Zoey paused as Sam visibly paled, "And apparently you both had a miscommunication. Someone stole your phone, and someone hacked into Dakota's Facebook. I mean, that's great, Sam!" Zoey cheered. We all shared a collective look of confusion directed towards an elated looking Sam.
"That means she still loves me, right?" Sam questioned us, excitedly. We all smiled at him and nodded.
"That's awesome, Sam! But, then that means..." Mike trailed sheepishly. Jo rolled her eyes at Mike.
"It means this whole trip was wasted and stupid. It. Was. Pointless," Jo piped up, seemingly annoyed.
"Not quite," Zoey said with a grimace. Dawn's face dropped dramatically at this statement and she immediately looked worried.
"What does that mean, exactly?" Dawn questioned her.
"It means, Dakota's family takes her to Cedar Point every year, and she's not going to be home for three more days, according to Ann Maria," Zoey stated, looking at Sam. He avoided our gaze as we all stared at him in astonishment.
"You never went with your father, did you soldier?" I asked him, sighing a bit. Sam looked up at us, looking terribly guilty.
"No, but I wanted to try to win Dakota back, I mean, I love her more than anything, you know? And I'm sorry for dragging you guys out here just to get her, but she's just not a girl, she's the girl. She's even better than all of my Princess Leiai action figure collector dolls," Sam explained to us.
"Well then, that's all the more reason to get you there!" Dawn declared.
"I would do anything for love...please, we've come so far guys, please just let me go tell her how I feel," Sam pleaded to us for a final time, his eyes thick with sincere tears. B smiled at him and nodded.
"B says he would do the same for me," Dawn said, her face hot with blush, "And I agree,"
"Me too, I mean I also really like this guy, and I would definitely do anything for him! I'm in Sam, I'll stay for you," Zoey concluded.
"Yeah, for that stupid Medical Procedure Doctor," Mike muttered venomously. All of us suppressed a laugh as Zoey looked completely embarrassed.
"Mike, can we not do this now? We're just letting Sam know something really important to him," Zoey whispered hastily to an obviously jealous Mike.
"Why? We all know Brick is gonna say, 'Of course soldier' and Jo is gonna say something like she doesn't want to, but she will anyways and then we'll all smile," Mike snapped, uncharacteristically. We all looked at him with incredulous looks while Zoey's face turned rotten.
"Mike!" She scolded, looking angry with him, "That was really mean!"
"It's fine, sol-" I began, but I stopped, "It's fine," Jo crossed her arms and scowled.
"No, it's not fine, he insulted us both and he didn't even apologize," She said.
"Hey, don't yell at Mike, he's just jealous!" Zoey yelled, trying to defend him.
"I am not jealous! And I don't need a girl defending me!" Mike screamed back.
"Don't scream at Zoey, she did nothing wrong!" Dawn pleaded.
"Oh wow, Dawn finally does something besides meditating!" Zoey exclaimed with a sarcastic sneer.
"B says lay off of Dawn!" Dawn shouted.
"Why don't you try speaking for yourself, B?" Jo snapped, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, there goes Jo, making another person's life hard!" Zoey said.
"Jo doesn't make people's lives hard, so don't even think like that!" I piped up angrily, feeling terrible for her. Jo was looking down, refusing to meet anyone's gaze, and I knew she was trying hard not to cry.
"Oh come on, Jo why not say another mean thing?" Mike hissed at her.
"Stop guys!" I shouted, trying to save Jo from her own tears. Before another horrible comment left their mouths, Jo got up and left the RV and stood outside. I sighed and relaxed into the seat as the RV fell completely silent.
"Too far, huh?" Zoey said, sheepishly.
"Yeah, way too far guys. We're all too close to fight like this. We're gonna graduate and go to college, we're going to have kids, and bills, and houses. And we're not going to see each other as often as we want to, this trip is really a special one and we all have to put aside our differences and enjoy it," I looked about them all when I finished my rant before I stepped out of the RV.
"What are you doing out here? Just leave me alone," Jo ordered through her crossed arms when she noticed me. She had propped herself on the side of the RV, her head buried deep into her arms. I sat down next to her and put a hesitant, but comforting arm around her.
"You don't make anyone's life hard," I whispered.
"Yeah right, I know I do, they were just telling the truth. I mean, I just can't be like you, Brickhouse. I just don't like expressing my feelings," Jo explained, her head still hidden.
"You are now," I smiled at her, "Look Jo, that's what makes you Jo, and you can't just try to change yourself because of some of your qualities. I like you Jo, even if you do snap at people, and you don't always express your feelings," Jo lifted her head after a few moments with a small smile playing on her lips.
"You're so stupid," She sniffled.
"Ready to go back in?" I asked.
"Ugh, not yet. Trust me, I'd rather spend the rest of my life with you than them," She muttered. It took her a moment to realize what she had said, and her face turned a bright red as did mine. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that!" She exclaimed, extremely embarrassed.
"Aww, you wanna marry me Jo, that's okay," I teased, grinning like a mad man. She hit my shoulder in dismay.
"Shut up,"
"Will you ever get married?" I questioned her, the mood suddenly turning serious between us. Jo said nothing as she silently contemplated this.
"I really don't know...I mean, I think I really like this guy," She began with a hot face, "But there's no way he would ever feel the same way, so I guess I'll have to see what the future has in store for me," She shrugged, "Hey, no treating me any different, okay?" I smiled and stood up.
"You just wouldn't be Jo if I did," I grinned, extending my hand to her. She gladly took it and stood up.
"Why do you always say that?" She laughed.
"Because, as I said before, I like you just the way you are, and no other way," I finalized, climbing back into the RV.
"Hey Jo, I just wanted to say I'm completely sorry for what I said," Zoey apologized with tears clear in her eyes as soon as we reentered the RV. For a moment, Jo's hard expression worried me, but what she did next surprised me even more than anything else she has done in her life. She stepped towards Zoey and wrapped her into a hug that Zoey immediately melted into. "Oh thank you Jo, I'm just so sorry!" Zoey wailed.
"Zoey, stop crying, because I sense Jo will if you continue...and I will too!" Dawn sobbed. Zoey laughed and sheepishly removed from Jo's embrace.
"Hey, wait!" Mike cried out. We all turned towards him with expectant looks upon our faces, "I have a question that I've been wanting to know for awhile," He stopped before directing his attention to Zoey, "Zoey, what exactly does your user-name mean?" He questioned.
"I heart MPD," She explained simply with a shrug.
"MPD, as in Medical Procedure Doctor, or something else?" Mike interrogated.
"Mike," Zoey began inching towards him.
"Zoey, please tell me what it means," Zoey bit her lip at this request and she shared a look with Dawn who gave her a big grin and an encouraging nod.
"It means I love Multiple Personality Disorder," Zoey breathed, her face a bright, bright red. We all smiled as Mike dissolved into a look of complete and utter happiness.
"So do you love the disorder...or someone who has it?" Mike asked with a smile.
"Don't they want some privacy?" Jo asked me incredulously. I elbowed her to shut up with a slight smile as Mike and Zoey were finally enclosing on their relationship. Zoey chuckled and hugged Mike tightly, in which he gladly accepted.
"I love you, Mike," Zoey laughed, pulling away from their embrace.
"I love you too, Zoey," Mike beamed. We all cheered as they finally did what we had been waiting years for them to do. Zoey leaned in and captured Mike's lips with hers before they went in deeper.
"Jeez, we don't want to watch you guys get it on!" Jo shouted.
"Oh Jo, even though your extreme fear of intercourse is endearing, it is a natural thing," Dawn pointed out helpfully.
"Don't worry, Jo, so am I," Sam whispered.
"I'm not afraid of..." Jo stopped before continuing on with a disgusted face, "That, I just don't particularly jump at the idea of it,"
"Why not? Kids are great, and I want tons of them!" Zoey gushed. Mike paled at this statement of hers.
"How many are tons?" He squeaked.
"Just like...one or two," She answered. Mike breathed out and smiled broadly at her.
"Okay, that's good," He laughed, seeming relieved.
"Zoey," Dawn warned, giving her a certain look. Zoey bit her lip before answering again.
"Okay, like six or seven," She answered again looking sheepish towards Mike.
"Six or seven?" He screeched, looking appalled.
"I-I just really like kids," She said, laughing awkwardly. "Hey, Ann Maria messaged me again," We all fell silent as she read the message aloud, "She said, we're at the rest stop leading into Ohio, where are you? So I am saying now...We are head...ing that wayyyy...now!" She finished typing and looked at us.
"What, so do they want us to pick them up?" Sam asked.
"Uh, yeah, actually. Ann Maria says, HELP! Candy and Cane, our ride are insane and are probably psycho killers," Zoey laughed.
"Do we have enough room for them?" I questioned, looking about the small RV.
"It doesn't matter, they are our fellow teenagers in need, and my Mother always tells me to greet everyone with open, and loving arms," Dawn said with a nod to confirm this.
"I guess we can pick them up, then," Zoey smiled.
General POV
"Thanks for pickin' us up, guys. Candy and Cane were killin' us," Ann Maria sighed gratefully as they RV pulled away from the rest stop. After they drove for a bit, they pulled over on the side of the road and continued their conversation.
"Yeah, how did you end up hitching a ride?" Jo asked them.
"Lightning said that we shoulda taken his car, but we took Scott's instead. One thing lead to another, Scott got mad, we left and then we were left to hitch a ride," Lightning explained.
"My great great great great great great great great Uncle Joe invented the car, yeah before that people just...well yeah," Staci said, fumbling over her words. They all ignored her as she sat down and continued on with their conversation.
"Well, we're glad you're here, soldiers, but we barely have enough room for us, but having three more people is going to be a tight squeeze," Brick said with a grimace.
"Awww, come on, there's gotta be a way, please," Ann Maria pleaded. She was stumped on why she wasn't blushing madly while she was talking to Brick. Ann Maria liked him a lot, she loved him in fact, but she wasn't nervous...she was doing that with another man.
"Then we're gonna have to have three people on a bed. Let's see...uh, Mike, Sam, and B on the bottom bunk, Dawn, Zoey, and Staci on the top. Ann Maria and Lightning take the booth, and Brickhouse and I have the driver and passenger seat," Jo finalized. She looked about the group to clarify this, and it seemed pretty a-okay with everyone.
"Wait, why you and Brick? Why not someone else?" Ann Maria countered.
"Because, Brick and I are the eligible drivers and we sleep there so that when everyone gets up, we can go immediately. And you know what else?" Jo asked rhetorically, "Because, Brick is my best friend, and frankly, I like being around him and I wanna be around him before he leaves for the army," Jo snapped. The RV quieted as Brick smiled broadly at this statement of Jo's.
"Look, I ain't tryin' to start anythin', no need to get ya panties in a twist," Ann Maria snapped.
"Then why is it such a big deal for Brick and I to sleep in seats, then?" Jo questioned her.
"Ladies, please," Brick pleaded.
"Yeah, Lightning thinks that this whole thing has been blown out of proportion," Lightning said.
"It's a big deal 'cause you're just tryin' to have him all to yaself! No one else can be around Brick, no one else can spend time with Brick, because you really don't have any other friends. You might as well just pack him up and ship him to ya house!" Ann Maria exclaimed.
"Ann Maria," Zoey started.
"You're practically in love with him," Ann Maria whispered dejectedly, cutting Zoey off.
Her sentence sat in the air, cutting through most everyone's conscious, but most of all, Zoey, Dawn's, and Jo's. Jo's breath hitched, and a million thoughts cross her mind. Was she in love with Brick? He was her best friend. She obviously had feelings for him, and she found him unconditionally attractive, but it couldn't be as easy as Mike and Zoey. Jo was messed up, she had extreme family problems, and low self-esteem, though she'd never admit it.
But she just couldn't think of a time where she had ever not thought about Brick. Even if they were innocent thoughts, she always asked herself, when was Brick coming home? Would he stay after school to wait for her? Would he sit with her at lunch? How good did Brick do on the test today? She always thought of him, but that didn't mean she was in love with him, right?
Jo just didn't like how serious their relationship was becoming. Or at least, her end of it. Brick had a life plan, he was going to enlist in the army. He was going to save their country and protect The United States...and what was Jo going to do? All she was worried about was what she was going to do with Brick. She had become so dependent on him, and she hated how needy she sounded every time they talked about his future.
Brick and Jo had always been together, since they were eleven, after Jo's father left. Brick understood Jo, he really did accept her and she was grateful for that, but she could never tell him. She couldn't leap into his arms and shout, 'I love you!' It was too hard, because she had never said it before, not even to her parents. She was never going to admit her feelings to Brick, no matter how deep they were. He was gonna go to the army and forget about her, and just protect their country, and she was going to work for minimum wage, live in a modest house and disappear from her group's existence. She was going to be nothing, and he was going to make something of himself...that's why she will never be able to be with him.
"Fine, you wanna sit in the passenger seat, go ahead, I really don't care," Jo snapped, pulling everyone abruptly away from their thoughts.
"You know what? That's it, everyone out of the RV, except for the following!" Zoey cried out, "Jo, Dawn, Myself, Ann Maria, and Staci! Everyone else, GET OUT!" Without another word, the guys left the RV and sat outside while the girls stared incredulously at Zoey.
"Zoey, I understand that you might be a bit upset with Ann Maria, but do not do anything you'll regret," Dawn advised taking her seat.
"Fine. Look Ann Maria, everyone in our group has a best friend. Dawn and B, Mike and myself, and Brick and Jo. That's how it's always been and we're not changing it just because you have small feelings for him. We missed graduation to help Sam and we're going to Cedar Point to reunite him and Dakota. This is our last vacation as students and we all want to be together for this. And I'm not gonna let you mess it up anytime soon. So either be with us, or get out," Zoey finished.
"Yeah, I have to say something. Ann Maria, you were being a bully to Jo," Staci informed her, "And my great great great great Aunt Claudia created the anti-bullying program, so I'm going to enforce now. You were bullied once, so you know how bad it feels, so please apologize to Jo,"
Ann Maria looked positively guilty as the emotion washed over her face. She sighed and stepped towards Jo.
"I'm really sorry, Jo. I really don't have feelin's for Brick, I was just grateful for him stickin' up for me ya know? And if ya really are in love with him, well then, I'm happy for ya," Ann Maria apologized, seeming truly sincere.
"Thanks Ann Maria, but I'm not in love with him, so it's fine," Jo said.
"Jo, yes you are! You're lying right now, I can see it, you can't fool me, Jo," Dawn exclaimed.
"I'm not lying, I do not have any love feelings towards Brick, and I never will," Jo declared, missing the angry expression that was appearing on Dawn's face.
"Really? Then why are you so happy every time Brick shows up? Why do you blush when someone mentions his name? Why do you always think about him? Why do you try to forget your feelings when you know perfectly well what they are? Oh, I know, because you're afraid that when he goes off to the army, he's going to forget you and leave you and you'll never hear from him again!" Dawn exclaimed harshly,
"But he won't, because he loves you too, and if you would just for a second admit this to yourself, then maybe just maybe you can tell him how you feel! Then you won't have to worry about him forgetting about you! Because he won't and do you know why? Because he will know that you love him, and he will have just one sole person to protect! For all the years that I've known you, I've never seen you scared, I've never seen you back down. So I'm telling you right now, don't back down! Face your one true fear, because he won't leave you, he won't cheat on you, and he certainly will never hate you!" Dawn shrieked uncharacteristically.
No one dared to utter a single word. Jo tried to sort through the words and her feelings, and so was another girl. Because for some reason, as they were all standing in the RV, Ann Maria felt the same sort of emotion run through her, but not for Brick. It was for a certain Quarterback named Lightning Johnson.
And that's what scared her.
A\N Hi! :D So I left ya on a cliff-hanger...sorta xD
I hope ya'll liked it! And I'm real sorry for such a late update, I really didn't have much inspiration for this chapter for awhile, but then it hit me and I wrote like crazy and here it is! ^-^
As you all know, this story will be coming to a close in the next few chapters and then it shall be done!
So, if any of you have requests for one-shots or multi-chapter stories, don't hesitate to ask me, because I'll be happy to do so! Also, I'll write for most everything, so that includes both fanon and cannon pairings, slash (yaoi), fem-slash (yuri), and ABC drabbles :D
Okay, so please review and tell me what you think, and thank you for the non-stop love and support! ^-^ I will try to update as soon as I can! :D
So keep on keeping on! :)
(This has been a product thing of TheGamesICause. Any person who steals this or copies it with small changes in any way will be written a strongly worded letter with many frowny-faces. The author of this is now putting this at the end of every chapter so that everyone knows she means business. The final draft of this chapter is ten pages and five-thousand, one-hundred and forty-two words long)
Angels to Fly :)