Disclaimer: we don't own it
AN: this is a joint fic only because Magical Turkey only knows how to say 'yes' in French.
Summary: Adam offers to tutor Joan after she starts failing French.
Title: Je t'aime
Joan Girardi stood at her locker holding a slightly crumpled piece of paper in her hand when her boyfriend, Adam Rove, walked up to her.
"Hey," he said warmly. He kissed her, when he noticed she wasn't reciprocating he pulled away. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She handed him the paper, it was her French mid-term, a large 'F plus' was written in red ink at the top of the paper.
"How did you get an 'F plus'?" he asked.
"I got my name right, madmoisel gave me the plus for that," she explained.
Adam cringed. "If you need any help just ask me."
"You don't take French."
"Parlez-vous Français?" he replied.
Joan blinked. "What's that mean?"
"Do you speak French?" he told her.
"Obviously not."
"Do you have work today?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied glumly.
"Ok, I'll meet you there after school, get out all the French books you can find."
"Yes, sir," she said as though she were speaking to a army sergeant instead of her boyfriend.
Adam rolled his eyes. "I'll see you after school," he said then kissed her as the bell rang and walked away.
---
Adam entered Sky Light books after school and looked around for Joan, finding her stocking books near the back of the store. Walking over to her, he asked;
"Etes-vous pret à commencer?" Joan spun around.
"Huh?" she asked.
"I asked if you were ready to start," Adam told her.
"Oh! I guess so."
"Comment allez-vous?"
"Translation?" Joan asked.
"How are you. Try to say it. Comment allez-vous."
"Komint all voice?" Joan tried. Adam smiled and shook his head.
"Try it again. Comment allez-vous."
"Cooment allez-vous?" Joan asked.
"Good. Do you know how to answer it?"
"I'm good?" Joan asked.
"In French?"
"I have no idea," Joan told him, honestly.
"Je suis bon. I am good," Adam responded.
"Je suis bon?" Joan asked.
"See? It's not that hard. Vous allez passer."
"I'm going to pass?" Joan asked.
"Je vous vois savoir du Français," Adam responded. Joan raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"You know some French," Adam told her. "It's not that hard of a language."
"Je devine..," Joan started, not confident of whether or not she was saying it right, "qu'il n'est pas."
"That's good Jane. When's your next test?"
"Thursday," Joan responded.
"You're going to do great. Try to say 'I am taking the bus to school.'," Adam told her, still going easy.
"Je prends le chariot couvert fâché à l'école?" Joan asked. Adam smirked, trying, and failing, to hold in his laughter. He began cracking up.
"What did I say?!" Joan demanded.
"I am taking the angry covered wagon to school," Adam said. Joan gave him a blank look, then she too started laughing.
"God. I suck at this," Joan complained.
"You're doing fine Jane," Adam told her.
"Adam. I just said 'angry covered wagon!' That's not doing good!" Adam placed his hand on Joan's.
"Try it again," he told her.
"Je prends l'autobus à l'école?"
"See? Not that hard. You just got your words mixed up."
"Thank you for helping me," she said earnestly.
"Say it in French," he gently insisted.
"Merci de m'aider," she said. "Did I say that right?"
"Yeah," he said smiling. "I told you you would get it."
She kissed him. Sammy walked up behind them.
"How many times do I have to tell you two to refrain from PDAs while Joan's working?" he asked.
Joan broke away from Adam and smiled. "Sorry," she said as Sammy rolled his eyes and walked away.
---
On Thursday in school Adam was waiting for Joan outside her French room after class.
She was one of the last people to walk out.
"How did you do?" he asked, as they began walked down the hall.
Joan smiled and handed him the paper.
"B plus?" he asked. She nodded happily. "Jane, that's great."
He hugged her, she pushed him into the nearest locker, and kissed him deeply.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Je t'aime," she replied.
"Jane," he said almost in disbelief. He didn't teach her how to say that.
She'd told him she loved him for the first time, though it wasn't in English, it still had the same meaning.
The End