Five days. That's how long it took Jo to write her novel.

Granted, there was definitely innumerable grammar, spelling, and transition errors, but she'd written it. There it was, sitting before her, shining up at her from her laptop screen.

She'd sent it to Professor Bhaer when she had finished it. There was no one whose opinion she valued more than his.

Soon a panic set it. The book was a diary. It was all her inner thoughts and hopes and dreams. She worried it was too personal. Too close to her heart and her mind.

Jo tried to make herself calm down. Only the Professor was going to read it.

Then he would know everything about it. It was like she was showing herself naked, completely devoid of any fronts or makeup she'd put on herself for others.

No, Jo told herself. I can't doubt myself. Not now.

Her winter break was going slowly. Concord felt like a vacation, not a home. Home was in New York now, but she wasn't sure why. She was always told that home was 'where the heart is'.

Shouldn't her heart be with her family? Why was her heart so far away in New York?

It had nearly been a week sent she'd sent her draft off to Professor Bhaer and still she had received no word back. No emails or calls or texts. Nothing.

He hated it. Jo was sure.

"Come watch Jane Eyre with me," Meg said, finding Jo in the kitchen eating an apple. "Amy doesn't want to."

Jo chewed the bright red fruit, "You better be watching the miniseries. I'm not watching the shitty 2011 version."

Meg smiled lightly, "Of course it's the miniseries. I'm not stupid." Jo nodded, rubbing her arm across her mouth and tossing the apple core into the garbage. "You miss New York, don't you?"

"Sure," Jo said after a moment. "I love being home, though."

"No, you don't," Meg sat at the chair next to her sister. "I know you. You want to be off forging frontiers or whatever it is you do."

They heard footsteps patting above them. Any was probably dancing to One Direction or whoever she likes.

"Meg..." Jo wasn't even sure what she was going to ask. "Do I come on to strong? Like, as a person."

"Completely," Meg said.

"Ugh, never mind," Jo scooted out from the table, a bitter expression on her face.

Meg scampered after her, "Jo, I'm just teasing-"

Jo just shook her head. Talking about feelings was stupid to her. Every time you confessed how you felt the other person explained why you were wrong.

Jo was often used to not being taken seriously. Perhaps that's why she was so strong willed. Often she was patronized. It pissed her off. She wasn't a child, though everyone seemed to think her one.

"Let's go watch Jane Eyre," Jo walked off to the living room and sunk into the warn brown leather couch. Meg followed after, taking quiet steps. She knew by now not to bother Jo when she got in these moods. "How are the twins?"

Meg sat in the large recliner, "My day off! John's taking them to lunch today and then they're going to see a movie."

"Cute," Jo said with a small smile.

Jo thought of herself being a mom one day. Having a perfect little family and being a perfect little wife. Waking up to the same routine over and over again. The thought made her feel odd. Something she couldn't name...

Restless. It made her feel restless. Caged. That was another word. Jo liked waking up not fully knowing what would happen. Maybe that was why she liked school. There was a routine to it, but you could never anticipate how the other people would be.

No, she couldn't see herself in a life like Meg's. A housewife was not was she was aiming to be.

They watched the miniseries and it was good as it always was. Jo loved movies set in the past. She always thought the past so interesting for some reason.

"Don't you just want a Mr. Rochester?" Meg swooned, watching the TV. "Oh, wait. I've already got one!"

"Mr. Rochester is kind of shady," Jo noted.

"Don't be such a Debby Downer," Meg stuck out her tongue. "I know you want one. My dearest Jo wants love deep down. Somewhere. Underneath all her books and fandoms, girly feelings are there."

"Shut up," Jo bit down on her jaw, trying to keep her cheeks from flushing bright red. "I don't want love. I just want my stories to be published."

"Did your Professor ever email you back?" Meg said, talking over the television set.

Jo shook her head, "Nothing. And he's not my Professor. He's not my anything. He's just-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. A knock at the door interrupted her.

"Is that John or something?" Jo stood up, moving towards the foyer.

Meg paused the show, "I don't think so. Is it Laurie?"

Jo scoffed, "When has Teddy ever knocked? He just barges in." A gush of cool wind hit her when she pulled open the door.

A man was standing there. A man she definitely was not expecting to ever see at her front door.

"Professor Bhaer?" He wore a brown jacket and pants, both rather warn looking and a bit too large for him. He clutched a stack of papers. "Why are you at my house?"

"Hello," He said, forcing a cheerful sound. "I wanted to... Should I go?"

"No," Jo laughed at his awkward demeanor. "Don't go. I'm just surprised I...Come in."

"Jo!" Meg hollered from the living room. "Who's at the door?"

"Professor Bhaer!" Jo yelled back in a most unladylike manner. She cleared her throat, "Um, that was my sister, Meg."

"The eldest one?" He asked, looking quite uncomfortable in her house.

"Yep," Jo replied just as Meg came rushing into the foyer with a determined look on her face.

She lit up, "So you're Professor Bhaer!" Meg moved in a little closer, making the Professor look even more flustered. "Jo talks about you all the time."

"Shut. Up." Jo hissed through clenched teeth.

Meg giggled, "I'll just go see what Amy is up to." She waltzed past them, obviously enjoying their discomfort. "He's cute," Meg whispered to Jo loud enough that she knew he could hear it.

"Ignore her," Jo said as Meg went up the stairwell. "Would you like to sit down or-"

"No," he said very quickly. "I came because...because I have news for you."

Jo smiled weakly, "You could've just called."

He paused, "News best said in person." For the first time, Professor Bhaer referenced the papers in his hands. Eagerly, he held them out to her.

Little Women
A novel by Jo March

Jo felt her heart stop and pick up again, thumping louder than it ever had before.

"Jo, your story was...magnificent. I saw you on every page. I feel like I really know you now. It was..." He couldn't think of the word. "I talked to Henry Dashwood about it-"

"Dashwood?" Jo's heart was pumping in her ears, making hearing very difficult. "The publisher?"

The Professor beamed, "He wants to publish it, Jo."

Jo wasn't sure if she should scream, cry, or laugh and she felt like doing all three. She was going to be published. Really published. Like a real novelist.

She jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her feet leaving the floor. Laughing as well, he caught her, holding her up.

Jo jumped down, "This is unreal! He really like it that much? You really like it that much?"

He nodded, "Yes. It needs a few tweaks here and there. I was thinking it was something we could work on..."

"When I get back to New York," Jo finished, though that didn't seem to make him happy at all. He wouldn't meet her gaze. "Professor?"

"Jo," his voice was quiet. "I have something to tell you."

She knew that tone. It was the tone her mother used when she said Beth was sick. It was the tone the doctors used when they said Beth was gone.

"What?" Jo demanded, her mood falling in one quick drop. "It's something bad, isn't it? Do you have bad news?"

"Sort of..." Professor Bhaer leafed the pages of her novel haphazardly. "I...I got a new teaching job. A better paying one."

"That doesn't sound bad." Jo said cautiously.

"The job is in Denver, Jo. I'm not going back to New York."