Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thanks once again to Wendylouwho10 for reading over this for me!

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is kinda blue spine and AU. Joe and Iola are 16, Frank and Callie are 17.

Author's Notes: Since the last one was short and I was in the mood to post again. :) I have finished the story. Still needs a couple more read overs, but it's done and it's 14 chapters total. So now you know how much longer it will last. :0)

Chapter 10

"For the last time, Frank! Okay!" Joe spun around with his crutches to look at his brother before going up the stairs. "I told you I'd go and I'm going!" Seriously, he had no idea why his brother was so intent on him going to the dance. He didn't really want to go. As he moved to the bottom of the stairs, he put his crutches up against the wall and carefully made his way up the steps. Joe's mind went back to earlier in the day….

"So are you going to the dance or not, Iola?" Callie had asked.

Iola had turned her gaze to Joe and said, "If I can't go with the boy that I like, I don't want to go."

He hadn't said a word back. Should he have asked her then? For almost two full weeks Iola had barely looked at Frank though she had been polite and spoken with him, it was obvious that she was no longer crushing on him. Instead she had placed herself near Joe whenever they were together. He let out a sigh of resignation. He should have just asked her out; just forgotten about her stupid crush on his brother and what happened with the robbery.

His thigh muscle spasmed and he gasped as he sat on the bed and held his leg as the twinge subsided. The spasms didn't happen often, but when they did they were painful. The doctor told him that overuse or extended tension could bring on more frequent occurrences. And right now, he was tense and the dance probably wasn't going to help that at all. Why was he even going again? He shook his head. Frank. Frank was why he was going. He took a deep breath and let it out. He'd get ready and he'd go with Frank and Callie to the gym but then he'd call for his dad with the excuse that his leg was bothering him. It would be true, even if weren't the real reason for wanting to leave. With that thought in his mind, he stood to get dressed.

.**********.

Joe climbed into the back of the van and laid his crutches in the aisle between the seats. He had already planted the seed of concern with his mother by rubbing his thigh a lot before they left the house. She had even asked him if he felt okay and he had said that his leg was bothering him a little but he thought it was all right. A warning to not overdo it was given to him as he used his crutches to get to the van. He could see Frank's eyes in the rearview mirror. "What?"

"Is your leg really bothering you?"

Joe closed his eyes and leaned back into the headrest. "Yeah, it is among other things."

"Hey."

Joe opened his eyes and saw his brother had turned in the seat to look at him better. "We don't have to stay long. Callie understands. If you get there and want to leave, we'll leave."

"But Callie-"

"Let's just see how things go. Maybe you'll want to stay."

"There's only one thing that would make me want to stay and that's not going to happen," Joe said as he closed his eyes once again. If he had kept them open, he might have seen the smile on his brother's face.

Ten minutes later they were at Callie's house and Frank was putting the van into park. "I'm going to leave it running while I go get Callie. We'll be back in just a minute."

"Sure, whatever," Joe replied in a lackluster voice. He was surprised when it was less than a minute for them to return. Hearing the back van door slide open, Joe opened his eyes. "You can sit up-" Joe stopped as he saw it wasn't Callie getting into the back seat with him but Iola.

"Hi, Joe," she said as she closed the door.

.**********.

Ten minutes earlier at Callie's house…

Iola was literally wringing her hands. "I don't know that this was such a good idea."

"Of course it's a good idea!" Callie said with a laugh. "When Joe sees you in that dress, he'll be happy that you're going."

Iola smoothed down a nonexistent wrinkle in her dress. It was shade of blue that Iola knew would match Joe's eyes; she had chosen it on purpose. The dress came down to her knees and had a halter top but the weather was too cold to wear it as is, so she was wearing a black velvet cropped jacket that would keep her warm. She had pulled her long dark hair up to the crown of her head and wore the length in ringlets that dropped over her shoulder. There was no doubt that she was looking her best. She glanced over to Callie and smiled. "And Frank won't be able to take his eyes off you." It was amazing that she truly meant it and felt nothing but happiness for her newest friend. It also showed her that her feelings for Frank hadn't been that deep.

Callie turned to the floor length mirror and looked critically at herself. "Are you sure? I mean, maybe wearing red to the Valentine's dance is a little too predictable."

Iola's glance swept over the deep red sweater dress with three quarter length sleeves and a hemline that stopped two inches above Callie's knee. The front of the dress went all the way up to Callie's neck but the back had a triangular cut-out that exposed a lot of Callie's back. Both girls had opted to opaque tights for warmth with their pumps. Callie's short blonde hair was worn in her usual style but held in place with crystal studded pins for decoration. Seeing the overall look, Iola could honestly say, "Yeah, he won't even realize I've left the house to talk to Joe." Then it all came back to her. She'd be talking to Joe in the van. Her expression must have changed drastically because Callie stepped over to take her hands.

"It's going to be fine."

"How do you know?" Iola asked with a wavering voice.

Callie winked at her and said, "Because I'm playing Cupid and Cupid is never wrong in matters of the heart."

Iola laughed as she blinked away tears. "That is the corniest thing I've ever heard."

"Well, obviously you must be in love."

"Why do you say that?" Iola asked with a smile.

"Because I have heard Joe Hardy say things much cornier than that and if you didn't notice, then you must be in love." Callie's smile was huge.

Iola laughed again and then stopped as the doorbell rang.

.**********.

Frank stood at the door and waited. He glanced back at the van. With the tinted windows, he wasn't sure if Joe were watching or not. Hopefully he wasn't. The sound of the door opening drew his attention back to the house. He wasn't sure if his mouth hung open or not, but he didn't care. Callie Shaw was looking gorgeous and smiling at him. He thought he might have stuttered out a greeting but wasn't sure as she reached out to pull him in the house. He saw Iola pass him with a smile as she headed out to the van. "Good luck," he called to her.

"I don't need luck. I have Cupid on my side," she called back and smiled.

He turned to Callie and said, "And you're Cupid?"

"At your service," she said with a smile and an exaggerated curtsey.

He closed the door behind him with one last glance to see Iola opening the van door. Turning back to his date, he gallantly gave her a bow and said, "I'm afraid I don't need your services at the moment because I believe I'm already in love."

Callie took his arm to pull him into the living room and smiled. "And here I just told Iola that Joe was the one who said corny things. It's obvious that you're brothers."

.**********.

Joe looked stunned as he sat across from Iola and said the first thing that came to his mind. "What are you doing here?"

Iola had looked a little tense to him but at his question, she burst out laughing. "Well, hello yourself."

Joe turned red and said, "Sorry. I just wasn't expecting you here." He sat up a little straighter. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a gentler tone.

"I told you that I didn't want to go to the dance with anyone but the boy I liked." She shrugged. "So I found a way to make that happen."

Joe looked around her to the house and saw no signs of his brother or Callie. "And they're in on it too?"

"Yes. They knew that I'd be here and Frank was supposed to make sure that you came along."

Joe looked at her in silence for long enough that Iola began to look uncomfortable. "Why?"

"You know why, Joe. You're the boy I want to be with. I hope you've seen that over the last couple of weeks."

He nodded slowly. He had seen the change in her and no longer thought she was in love with Frank but he still had his other doubt. "But the robbery-"

Iola didn't let him say more. "Is over. Yes. I was freaked out. Yes. I am grateful. But if it had been Mr. Prito who was taken hostage, you wouldn't be asking me this. I would have been forever grateful to him but I wouldn't want to date him." She smiled and reached to take his hand. "When you took my hand to help me out of the booth that night, that's when I realized you really saw me as someone besides a tomboy. And that's when I really started thinking about you differently."

Joe glanced over her outfit and when he raised his eyes back to hers he said, "You look anything but a tomboy." He smiled. "Want to go to the dance with me?"

"I'd love to," she leaned across the seat to meet him for a kiss when the passenger door opened.

Frank said, "Watch the PDA back there, kids!"

Joe and Iola sprang apart but Joe laughed. "I guess you owed me that one."

"That I did," Frank said as he helped Callie into the van.

"Sooooooooo," Callie said as she glanced into the back.

Iola reached over to take Joe's hand. "Cupid wins."

Joe tensed and then Iola squeezed his hand. "Not that maniac. Callie. Callie and Frank decided to play Cupid."

Joe relaxed and gave a small smile. The words of his kidnapper were still ringing in his head when Callie spoke to him bringing him back to the present.

"I thought it was the least I could do after what you did for me."

There was no doubt what she meant. "I just helped speed up the inevitable," he said quietly.

Callie winked at him. "That's all I did as well."

Joe looked over to the beautiful girl beside him and thought that maybe Callie was right. This was inevitable.