One Year Later

Jo didn't get to go on a trip with Aunt March.

Honestly, she didn't care too much. All she cared was that Beth was well now and father was home. Her application to NYU had gone through and she was going to an interview in a few days.

Nothing else had really changed and Jo liked it that way. Meg had gone to the local college on an obscene amount of student loans and was living at her sorority. She was still seeing John.

Jo wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Amy had gotten the lead in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland and she wasn't about to let anyone forget it.

So life was rather normal for the March family. Normal and a bit boring. Senioritis was getting the best of Jo and Teddy was gone so she had no one to pass the time with.

It was a Saturday morning in Spring when Jo had woken up to Beth's light voice.

"Jo, Laurie comes back today," Beth said. "Aren't you excited?"

"Yes," Jo yawned, sitting up and glancing to the clock.. "Aren't you? You'll get to have piano lessons again."

Beth giggled, glancing down at her feet. She'd really grown in the past year. Nearly five foot six and almost to Jo's height. A beautiful, fifteen year old. She didn't even know how beautiful she was.

Jo often felt rather plain compared to her sisters. Even Amy had more beauty than her. Jo's hair was messy and wild, her arms so long she nearly tripped over them.

But some changes had come. Hips had come, protruding from her side like bony saddle bags. Even her breasts had grown a bit more. She didn't look like a lanky boy anymore.

Jo was a girl. Jo was a woman.

She ran a comb through her mane but eventually accepted defeat and put it back in a braid. It was just Teddy after all.

Just before lunch there was a knock at the door before it began to open.

"Hello?" Teddy called stepping into the house. Jo leaned in from the living room to glance at him but didn't get the chance as her mother soon blocked the view.

Marmee took him into a hug, "Laurie, it's great to see you!" She pulled him out to arm's length, "Look at you. You're a man now."

He simpered, "Almost. Where's Jo?"

"Here I am!" Jo hollered walking up to meet him. She nearly stopped dead when she saw him.

He looks so old. He hardly looked like her Teddy. Can he really have changed so much since she last saw him at Christmas? This Teddy was taller and much more masculine. Handsome, yes, very handsome. But cold, different.

Jo appraised his preppy attire, "You look like a Land's End catalog."

Marmee gave her a cross look but Teddy simply laughed. A shadow of the old him.

"And you look like a girl." He noted, glancing at her chest but for only a moment so her mother wouldn't see.

It gave her an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach.

She shook it off, "Well, come give me a hug, you college boy." Smiling he swaggered forward and took her into his arms. Strong arms. Man's arms.

The hug lasted a bit longer than she wanted so she pulled away, "Beth's dying for a piano lesson."

Marmee excused herself and went off to the kitchen.

"Amy's dying to see you as well," Jo continued. "She picked out a special outfit and everything."

"Jo March, you butthead!" Amy shouted from the stairwell. The little thirteen (almost fourteen, she'd correct) girl clomped down the stairwell wearing some pink flowery high-low dress she said was the height of fashion. Giving her brightest smile, she rushed to Laurie, "Oh, Laurie. You look so handsome!"

Laurie grinned making her turn as pink as her gown, "Why thank you, Amy. What a nice dress, but isn't that a bit old for you?" He noted the plunging neckline.

Amy pouted, "I'm almost fourteen!"

"Fourteen, not twenty-four," Jo crossed her arms, lowing her eyebrows.

Amy stomped, "Just because you dress like a nine year old boy doesn't mean we all have to!" With two finger she clamped together the v-neck and dashed back up the stairs. A door slammed.

"I don't dress like a nine year old boy," Jo grumbled to no one in particular.

Teddy smirked, "More like a twelve year old one."

"Oh, shut up."

...

They went over to Laurie's house for dinner where Mr. Laurence's cook had made a killer lasagna for all of them. Beth played songs for all of them on the piano while Mr. Laurence looked on with glee.

It was a happy night full of spirit and laughter. Meg managed to show but spent most of the night talking with John, as usual.

Jo mostly talked with Laurie. It was fun to hear him talk about Harvard. He was so animated about it. He talked about his new friends, classes, clubs, secret orders, and everything you could imagine. It made Jo ache. She wanted to get out of Concord. She needed some stories to tell.

"How's your writing, anyway?" Teddy asked. He sipped some wine while no adults were looking.

Jo sighed and rested her head on her hand, "All right, I suppose. I've gotten published in the school newspaper and the local paper. NYU said I had potential and I'm going for an interview."

"That's great!" He said, smiling in an odd sort of way. "I always knew it. You'll be a famous writer one day."

She absentmindedly played with a fork, "Hmm. Maybe." She placed a prong on her finger and tried to balanced the fork against the table, twirling it a bit. "I'm just hoping to get in. In not sure how to pay for it, but I'm hoping." Jo snorted, "Perhaps Aunt March would pay."

Suddenly, she felt something resting on her thigh. It was his hand, caressing it fondly. Sliding up and down in a way she didn't like. He smiled at her.

She jerked away, standing up, "Let's go sing along at the piano, hmm? I like this song."

What the hell was that?! Her mind raced as she dashed over to the piano. Her face was getting red, she could feel it. Her whole body felt weird: Tingly in the worst possible way. Why was he touching me like that? He had no right to do that! None! I should slap him! I should yell at him!

But she didn't want to approach him about it. She couldn't. To yell at him about it meant to address that it had happened. And that terrified her.

Beth looked up happily when Jo came over, "Hello."

"Hey," Jo tried to catch her breath. Laurie soon came over, walking casually as if nothing had happened at all.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was just a friendly thing. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be flirtatious. You're thinking too much into this. It's Teddy. Just Teddy.

No, she was just being foolish. That was definitely more than friendly.

I don't like you like that, she thought, hoping he'd somehow hear it. I don't. I never will. Please stop this. I don't want you to change things. I don't want to hurt you.

"Feeling all right?"

She jumped at his voice. When had he moved to standing so close to her?

Jo nodded, not turning to look at him.

"I missed you so much," He said, leaning in a bit closer. "Don't go to New York. I may just have to come and bring you back."

Jo nodded, but fear surged through her.

I don't want this. I don't want you. I don't want this. If this is what romance or love feels like then I don't want it. Not with you.

"And I don't think you look like a boy," He said with a bit of a laugh. "Not at all." Teddy moved in closer, his hand brushing against hers. The music and singing swelled in her ears, all sounding like a horrible buzzing that smacked her ear drums.

"I'll be right back," Jo backed away from the group, dashing down the hall and into the bathroom.

She turned to her reflection and looked at her face.

"Stop it," she told herself. "Stop growing. Stop changing." She placed her hands onto her hips and pushed them in, "Stop. Growing." Jo reached to her braid and grabbed it.

You look like a girl. The voice rang in her head.

I don't want to be girly. I don't want to be desirable. Not by him.

Jo looked at her braid again, an idea coming to mind.

She smiled.