Disclaimer: All rights go to Laura Ingalls Wilder and the producers of the television series.


A/N: This chapter takes place after Mr. Edwards adopts Matthew in the last episode of "The Wild Boy." I'm not entirely sure of Jeb and Jenny's exact ages in the television series, but at this point I'm going to put Jenny at 13 and Jeb at almost 15. I could be totally off, but it's fan fiction, right? Also, you will notice a little bit of a time jump compared to the last chapter. Enjoy this chapter after a 6 year hiatus. Yikes.


"I've never had these feelings before," Jeb whispered, pulling Jenny even closer. "Do you know what I mean?"

"I do," she replied, after a moment. And... neither have I. W-What is happening?" Jenny asked, though more to herself.

"I don't know," he breathed, "Something, something else."

March, 1889

It was a cool, Monday morning as Jenny Wilder began her trek to school. Water droplets fell off the leaves from the trees above her due to the aftermath of last night's rainstorm. Jenny clutched her dark gray coat and smiled contently. Spring was in the air and it was her favorite time of the year. Both her Ma and Pa were born in the springtime, on the same day. The three of them used to stay up all night playing games. Her Ma would playing the piano and sing, while her Pa would lie back into his chair and smoke his pipe. While Jenny would have been close to tears thinking of her parents like this a couple years ago, Jenny now smiled fondly at the memories. She felt so blessed that she could now make more memories with her beloved Aunt, Uncle, and niece. Perhaps one day, she would start a new family of her own...

For several minutes, Jenny was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice a tree root sticking up right in front of her. Jenny let out a surprised yelp as she fell to the ground. As she stood up, Jenny breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that no one was there to witness such an embarrassing moment, until -

"Hey, Jenny! I didn't think you had two left feet!"

From the distance, Jenny could see Jeb and his little brother Jason coming towards her. The three of them usually met in the middle and would walk to school together. Jenny wasn't sure exactly when that tradition started, but she never complained about the extra company.

Jenny regarded Jason with a friendly smirk, "People only use that term when they're dancing, Jason."

Jason skipped over to Jenny until he was standing right in front of her. "Well, it was still funny," he insisted. Jeb was close behind him and gave Jenny a soft smile. Jenny immediately blushed as she looked down at her clothes which were a little muddy, particularly her stockings.

"Come on you two, we don't want to be late," Jeb said. He chuckled as Jason sped up in front of them which left both Jeb and Jenny to trail behind him.

"Are you alright?" Jeb asked. He moved his light brown hair out of his face before taking Jenny's books and lunch pail.

Jenny smiled, "I'm fine. I just get caught up in my own world sometimes."

"Oh yeah?" Jeb grinned down at her, "What does that world look like?"

"It looks like right now!" Jenny exclaimed, "Everything is perfect. Matthew has a legal guardian, springtime is among us, and I'm walking with my best friend to school!"

"I'm your best friend?" Jeb's eyes widened, "I thought that was Elizabeth. How is she doing, by the way?"

Jenny instantly slowed her pace as she thought carefully. "I haven't seen her in a little while. Some weeks she'll come to school, and other times not. Her arm doesn't function as well as it used to. I'm hoping that she will come back to school soon. It was such a tragic time that her and her Ma went through."

Jeb took a deep breath, "Yeah, I can only imagine."

They both thought back to almost two years ago when Mr. Stark ruthlessly shot Elizabeth and her Ma. Every now and then, Jenny would still have nightmares about when Mr. Stark came to Uncle Manzo and Aunt Laura's home the night he shot them. Uncle Manzo and other men from town were on the hunt to find Mr. Stark, so it was just Laura, Jenny, and Rose who were home alone. When they heard a horse from outside they initially thought that it was Almanzo coming home. But no, they were very, very wrong. Jenny will never forget how scared she was during those longest two hours of her life that Mr. Stark held them there. Jenny was able to escape and break the news to Almanzo, who instructed Mr. Carter to take her to his place for the time being to keep her safe. The rest of the story was a little hazy.

"Come on, you two!" Jason hollered, breaking the silence.

Jenny smiled as she noticed Jeb's unsubtle urge to not roll his eyes. Sibling relationships are so interesting, she thought.

The three finally made it to school right as Ms. Plum started ringing the bell for all the students to come inside. Jenny took her usual seat across the aisle from Jeb. She looked to her right and sighed. Elizabeth would always be the one to sit next to her. Jenny prayed that Elizabeth would turn up this week.

"Oh my, Jenny. What on Earth happened to you?" Jenny turned around, finding herself face to face with Nancy Oleson. She looked at Jenny up and down, her eyes settling on the stubborn mud that clung to her stockings.

"Oh, I just felt like rolling around in the mud with the beavers," Jenny said, wanting to humor Nancy.

Jenny could hear a faint chuckle coming from across the aisle. It was Jeb. They shared an amused look with each other as Nancy sauntered to her seat in disgust.

Moments later, Ms. Plum walked to the front of the class and eyed her students fondly. "Good morning," she began, "Before we begin our lessons today I wanted to make a very special announcement."

The students immediately perked up, hoping for any kind of distraction from their daily routines.

"Mayor McCarrey would like to host a special dance at the Lars Hanson house and all the students are invited!"

Gasps, cheers, and groans from some boys could be heard distinctly in the room. More than anything, Jenny was so excited at the fact that there would be another social event at the Lars Hanson house! The last time there was any kind of event there was the same day that Mr. McCarrey was elected mayor. Jenny reflected on that day often.

"Listen, please!" Ms. Plum rose her voice, "It will be this Saturday. This is a very special privilege, class. Mayor McCarrey is so grateful for all you did to help during the election. This is his gift to thank you all and we must be on our best behavior."

Jenny and Jeb shared another look. This time, Jeb seemed rather indifferent, but Jenny knew it was because most boys dreaded dances. She wondered if Aunt Laura would let her buy fabric to make a new dress.

A few hours rolled by until it was finally lunch time. Nancy was the first to sprint out the door and go straight towards the Mercantile. Moments later, she came back with a rather large and thick looking piece of parchment and a fountain pen.

Nancy clapped the heels of her shoes together, "Alright everyone, listen up!"

The boys abruptly stopped playing their marble game and the girls quit their gossiping. Everyone else, mostly the older students, continued to eat their lunches as they nonchalantly regarded Nancy. She held up the piece of parchment proudly so everyone could see it.

"This is going to be Walnut Grove's attention board for students," she began. "You will post on the board when you want to let someone know that you have their attention. It will be easier for the young men to ask the girls to the dance, and no one will be left wondering who likes who!" Nancy smiled at some of the older boys before winking at Jeb. Jenny watched him spit some of his sandwich out and she immediately felt bad for him. (A/N: I may or may not have been inspired by the take notice board from "Anne with an E.")

Abigail, one of Jenny's friends, stood up from the schoolhouse steps and crossed her arms. "Well where in the heck are you going to put it? You know Ms. Plum wouldn't approve of such a strange invention."

"Quite the contrary, Abi," Nancy scoffed, "But don't worry - I thought ahead just in case. It will go in the shed behind the school! Ms. Plum never goes in there."

"What a perfect place," Willie said sarcastically. Several students snickered, for the shed behind the school was known to be the place where a boy and girl would share a kiss or two, or three.

Nancy glared at her brother, "It will work for now. You wait and see."


The following morning, the so-called "attention board" was posted in the shed behind the school. No one had mentioned the board to Ms. Plum. Jenny wasn't sure whether it was because they didn't want to get in trouble, or because they were curious to see what would be written on there. Against her better judgement, Jenny felt the latter. She had no idea who would write her name on the board. Of course, Jeb was prominent in her life and he was a boy after all, she thought. No, they were just friends, right? Jenny felt a sudden wave of emotion fill her and she immediately shook her head.

"Is something on your mind?" Abigail asked Jenny during their lunch break.

"No, nothing." Jenny replied, absentmindedly.

From a distance, she could see some of her classmates playing a game of baseball. She looked for Jeb, since he was usually always playing. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Jeb sitting on a log with Nancy. Normally, he would be annoyed that Nancy was even talking to him. However, this time he actually looked happy. Him and Nancy were just chatting with one another like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was the strangest sight, and it made her heart lurch for an unknown reason.

Jenny rose from her seat on the schoolhouse steps. "Abi, you can finish my sandwich if you'd like, I'm going to play baseball with the boys."

Abigail raised her eyebrows, "I thought you didn't like baseball."

"It's not my favorite," Jenny sighed. "But Ms. Plum challenged us to do something outside our comfort zone today, so I'm going to play baseball."

"Woah, good for you. You might be the first student today who is actually taking that initiative." Abigail grabbed the rest of Jenny's sandwich.

"Thank you," Jenny smiled, "Wish me luck!"

Abigail nodded and smiled as Jenny took off towards the game. Willie Oleson and several more of her fellow classmates were obviously very involved in the game, and Jenny wasted no time in taking the bat from Cole Higgins, who was next in line to bat.

"I'm sorry, Cole. Baseball beckoned and I couldn't say no," Jenny said hurriedly. She gripped the bat and tried to focused on Willie, who had the baseball in his hand.

"It's okay, Jenny," Cole blushed, "Ladies first."

For a moment, Jenny was taken aback by how thoughtful he was in letting her go first, even after she so rudely grabbed the bat from his hands. Cole was a little over a year older than her, came from a very respected family, and was an overall good kid. Jenny hadn't taken much time to get to know him like she had with her other classmates, and for the first time she actually wondered why.

However, those thoughts immediately shifted as she caught Jeb's gaze. He was looking at her with an odd curiosity. It was likely because Jeb had invited Jenny to play a game with him so many times, and she had always come up with an excuse. Nancy was looking at her with curiosity as well, seeming to think that there was an ulterior motive.

Maybe there was.

She then focused all her attention on the heavy, white ball that was flying towards her. She gathered all her strength and hit the ball with the bat as far as it could go. To her surprise, included everyone else's, the ball flew quite far.

"RUN, JENNY!" Cole yelled, breaking Jenny's trance.

"Oh!" Jenny exclaimed before she began running as fast as she could. Time seemed to stop at the moment, and for a while Jenny felt like she was almost floating. It wasn't until she made it to home run that she collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

Jason, who was also playing, caught the ball only moments later.

"Jeb was right. You stink, Jason." Willie teased.

Jenny suddenly felt a pair of strong arms lift her up. Once she realized that it was Cole, she smiled.

"Wow, Jenny. I have never seen a girl play like that. No offense," he shook his head nervously, "But that was one of a kind!"

"Thank you, Cole. That's very sweet of you. Perhaps you can give me some good pointers for next time."

"Sure any - "

"Actually, Higgins. I've been undefeated in baseball, so I think I would be the better choice," said a familiar voice. Jenny whipped around and saw Jeb standing a few feet away from them, a hard look on his face.

Cole scoffed, "Sure, Carter. It was only a suggestion."

Jenny groaned internally. Why did Jeb have to be so self-centered sometimes?


Ms. Plum dismissed class for the day after a long lecture on the basics of algebra. Jenny had planned to go see Elizabeth and her Ma after class, followed by doing her chores, but she didn't know that her plans would shift that afternoon.

Jenny gathered her books and stood up from her desk. She looked across the aisle to see Jeb looking at her with what appeared to be a sad, confused, almost irritated look.

Just before she was going to ask him what his problem was, Nancy scurried back into the classroom and instructed everyone to meet her outside. Once they were out of Ms. Plum's hearing range, Nancy clapped her hands excitedly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that we have some writing on the attention board," she said smugly. "Let's go take a look, shall we?"

Jenny and all her classmates walked over to the shed where the attention board was tacked onto the wall inside. There were quite a few small notes and names with hearts drawn around them. Jenny had thought the whole thing was silly, until she spotted a note that was off to the right hand side of the board.

It read, "To the greatest girl, will you go to the dance with me?"

The other kids must have noticed it too because everyone immediately began murmuring and looking around.

Nancy cleared her throat and smiled. She regarded Jeb with a smile. "Oh Jeb, I accept your invitation."

The crowd grew very quiet as they waited for his reaction. His mouth dropped ungracefully as if he couldn't believe she had just said that. If Jenny wasn't so shocked, she might have laughed.

"Are you kidding me, Nancy?" Jeb folded his arms and turned red.

"No!" Nancy exclaimed. "It's not like you were going to ask - "

"The writing is mine, actually." Cole stepped out from the crowd. He quickly glanced at Jeb, with an unreadable expression, before facing Jenny with a shy smile.

"Will you go to the dance with me, Jenny?" Cole asked.

Gasps and whispers began to fill the crowd of students. Some were smiling excitedly whereas others looked between Jenny and Cole in bewilderment - wondering how the two had suddenly become so close. Nancy looked like she had just been slapped, and Jeb looked between the two as if he had lost a baseball game. More than that, there was hurt and sadness in his expression. Jenny hadn't seen this expression on Jeb too often, knowing how he hid his emotions well, but anyone could see that he just looked... devastated.

"Uh, Jenny?" Cole asked.

"I - What?"

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

"Oh," Jenny sighed. Something in her heart kept poking at her, but Jenny felt that she had a right to spend time with other boys, not just Jeb and Jason.

"Yes, Cole. I'll go with you."

Cole flashed her a bright smile as students either cheered or looked away in boredom.

Feeling flustered, Jenny lowered her gaze. "I better be getting home now."

The crowd of students watched her quickly wave at Cole before running off. The attention board hadn't been up for very long and it was definitely gaining the attention of all the students.

Cole glanced at Nancy and blushed before putting his hands in his pockets and leaving as well.

Nancy turned to Jeb, "Well, that was unexpected."

"Yeah," Jeb sighed.

"Hey Carter," Randall pushed past Nancy and regarded him seriously. "You remember what I told you right? You need to tell her how you feel before it's too late."

"I can take care of my own affairs, Randall." Jeb said in a hushed tone, not wanting Nancy to hear them. She looked away and rolled her eyes before sauntering off.

"Prove it, then." Randall clapped him on the back.

On the outside, Jeb might have looked tough and confident. But on the inside, his heart was dropping.

Why was this so difficult?


The evening of the dance social at Lars Hanson's old house came very quickly. By then, a number of other students followed the example of Cole and asked their peers to the dance, some even made declarations of love. Jason wrote about how much he liked Amy Bryant - a younger girl in their class. Although the feelings didn't seem entirely mutual, she did promise him at least one dance.

Jenny, Jeb, and Jason continued to walk to school together throughout the week, although it didn't feel the same. Jeb and Jenny were rather quiet towards one another, which gave Jason more of an opportunity to talk about everything under the sun.

Yesterday, earlier that morning, Jason declared that he would be going to the dance with Amy, Jenny with Cole, and that Jeb would be going alone.

"First of all," Jeb had said, "You're not going to the dance with Amy. She doesn't even like you. And I'm not going alone. I'm going with friends."

"Oh, I'm sure," Jason snorted. "That sounds likely."

"You're not going to ask anyone, Jeb?" Jenny had asked.

"I don't think so, I think Nancy's attention board idea was interesting at first but now it's just dumb. People should be able to just talk to one another."

Jason scoffed, "You're so ridiculous. Why don't you practice what you preach, huh?"

Now, it was Saturday evening and Jeb didn't feel like going to the dance. The thought of seeing Jenny in another guy's arms made him feel queasy.

Sarah Carter gushed as her sons came down from the loft, fully clothed in their Sunday best.

"When did my boys get so handsome?" She exclaimed.

"Thanks, Ma." Jason said, content with his mother's approval.

Sarah ruffled Jeb's hair and smiled, "You could look more excited. You're missing out on some chores just to attend this dance."

"I know, I am." Jeb said, even though he was far from it.

Minutes later, Jeb and Jason got in John's rig and waved to their Ma before taking off.

The ride to the house was very quiet, until John spoke up.

"I remember my first school dance," he said fondly. "As a matter of fact, it's where I mustered up the courage to talk to your Ma for the first time. Her and I came from such different backgrounds. I didn't think I had a chance - but luckily I did and she liked me enough to marry me eventually."

The boys chuckled. Jason lightly punch Jeb's side and gave him a knowing look, but Jeb decided it was best to ignore him and stay quiet.

Finally, they pulled up to the house and the dance appeared to already be in full swing.

"Alright boys, you two have fun. I'll pick you up at 8."

"Thanks, Pa." Jeb and Jason said in unison.

The two walked inside the house and saw that it was abundantly decorated with flowers, tinsel, and streamers. Ms. Plum and the girls had decorated the first floor of the house that day. Some students were dancing, while others were busy huddled in groups or were playing some board games in the living room. The house was filled with sweet, upbeat music from violins. It reminded Jeb of those very few occasions were they would attend family gatherings on his Ma's side in New York. Because Sarah Carter had come from a wealthy family, she began to be an outcast once she met and fell in love with John, wanting to live the "dirt farmer" lifestyle. Jeb couldn't blame her - he much preferred the calmer life outside of the city. It's where he truly felt that he belonged.

"Hey Jeb!" Jason exclaimed, "I see Amy, I gotta go. See ya!"

"Wait, Jason - "

"Why hello." Jeb felt a delicate finger tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Nancy dressed in a ridiculously poofy pink dress with gold trim.

"Do you like my dress? It's from Paris. Costed $8."

Jeb exhaled. Where was Jenny?

"It's alright," Jeb said, ignoring Nancy's evident frown. "I'm going to grab some punch," he excused himself, feeling overwhelmed.

Suddenly, he saw Cole and Jenny standing by the staircase appearing to be having a casual conversation. Jeb nearly stopped short as he and Jenny locked eyes. She was wearing a beautiful dark, green dress with lace trim. Her hair wasn't plaited into its usual pigtails, it was down and slightly curly, and her bangs were brushed off to the side of her face. The dress really brought out the color in her eyes. She was shining - no, radiating with so much light and beauty. Jeb could scarcely believe that this was the same girl he met years ago in the school room. She was perfect.

Jeb was so enamored by her, that he barely heard Nancy yelling at him in annoyance.

"You can't at least ask me for ONE dance, Jeb?! You are so lucky that I would even want to," Nancy said before stopping short. Only seconds later, he and Nancy were face to face with Cole and Jenny. Jeb felt beyond awkward. He was about to excuse himself again before Cole spoke up.

"Nancy, you look beautiful," he said. "I would be more than happy to take you to the dance floor." Cole held out his hand for her. Nancy's entire demeanor changed as she looked down at his hand in surprise.

"You mean - you don't want to spend time with Jenny?" Nancy almost spat her name.

Jenny smiled, "We had plenty of time to dance as friends before you got here, Nancy. You deserve a good twirl."

Jeb couldn't believe it. Jenny was giving Nancy her permission to steal her date away?

"Well then," Nancy began, "I accept."

"Really?" Cole spluttered, "You mean it?"

Nancy nodded and took his arm, before throwing Jeb and Jenny a glare before they walked away quietly. Now, it was just the two of them. Jeb and Jenny just looked at each other for what felt like a lifetime. Jenny gave him a polite smile as he put his hands in his pockets shakily.

"That was very generous of you," Jeb said.

"I found out a little while ago that he has feelings for Nancy, so I'm glad he had the courage to ask her." Jenny said.

Confused, Jeb looked between Jenny and the now dancing couple. "I don't understand. Then why didn't Cole ask Nancy to go with him?"

"It's complicated," Jenny smiled. "I think he just wanted Nancy to notice him and see that other girls like his company, too."

Jeb shook his head. What a weird kid.

"I'm not disappointed. Cole is just a friend, and I was actually waiting for you to get here."

"Really?" Jeb asked, uncertainty filling his voice.

"Yeah," Jenny nudged him slightly, "Now how about we step out of this craziness," she said, gesturing towards the immaculate, now-lit porch.

Jeb smiled, taking her hand. Together, they found a love seat that was situated on the right side of the porch. Candles flickered harmoniously as the two sat side-by-side, enjoying the view of the stars which lit up the green hilltops of the prairie.

"Remember when we came here after the election?" Jeb asked.

"I do," Jenny smiled. "We danced so much that I became so dizzy. It was definitely a hallmark moment."

The two relaxed more as they started to get more comfortable. But, something was still bothering Jeb.

"Jenny?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't like Cole, right? You said you were just friends?" He immediately felt stupid for asking.

Jenny shook her head, laughing. "We are just friends," she began. "I don't really know him that well at all. And, he's actually not very good at baseball like I thought he was."

"Is that a deal breaker?" Jeb asked, a glint of humor in his eyes.

"No," Jenny turned to him, "But I have taken a liking to baseball. And I know you like it."

"I do," Jeb responded. For several moments, their eyes locked once more. Jenny moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Elated, Jeb put his arm around her and rested his cheek on top of her head. It was moments like these that Jeb wanted to bottle up and save forever. He couldn't perfectly describe how he was feeling in the moment - just that he was happy.

"Do you want to dance, Jeb?" Jenny asked softly.

"Sure," he responded in the same gentle tone. As they were about to go back into the house, Jenny stopped him.

"I want to dance here."

"Here?" Jeb asked, looking again at the flickering lights and wild flowers woven around the perimeter of the porch. He then decided that it would be nice. "I'd love to."

Jenny beamed as she let Jeb gently embrace her. She let him put his hand on her waist and his other hand in hers, softly but firmly. The beautiful music from the violin could be heard just as clearly as if they were inside. It was then that they both realized, this was their first slow dance. While they had danced around like monkeys before, this was different. It was comfortable, tranquilizing, romantic...

Jeb beamed as he let Jenny rest her head on his chest. The slightly chilly air from the outside had nothing on them due to their closeness and the steady beating of their hearts.

"I've never had these feelings before," Jeb whispered, pulling Jenny even closer. "Do you know what I mean?"

"I do," she replied, after a moment. And... neither have I. W-What is happening?" Jenny asked, though more to herself.

"I don't know," he breathed, "Something, something else."

For the rest of the evening, they continued to hold each other. They shared many laughs, smiles, and meaningful conversations. As the event came to any end, several of the students began filing out of house to begin a lantern ceremony. The sky glittered with light that captured all of Jenny's attention. If she had paid closer attention, she would have noticed the very light kiss that Jeb had planted on the top of her wavy hair.


A/N: Wowza - this was such a fun chapter to write! I love this pairing so much. xx

Thank you again for your endless support and patience.