AN: I'm not even gonna bother to say anything else except that it is now a matter of days before Chapter 18 of Addendum is up so you all can stop secretly hating me for boring you with these. This is the last one I will post without a chapter for the main story too.
So, here's a little bonding between Jo and Elena because I love writing female friendships! This one is a little longer just because I love them that much. Enjoy!
Addendum: Outtakes
Referenced in Ch. 8
Bellevue
Nebraska: May 2016
Elena walks into the roadhouse, duffle bag over her shoulder and a bemused look on her face. Late afternoon light filters in through gritty windows, the room empty with the exception of a few patrons, a mullet-clad man sleeping on the pool table, and two blondes behind the bar.
Both women turn to look at her.
"Hi," she says with a smile. "I'm looking for Ellen Harvelle?"
The older blonde nods. "You must be Elena; John left a message you'd be staying for a few days." She gestures at the younger blonde who looks to be about the same age as Elena. "This is my daughter, Jo."
Elena nods at Ellen. "That's right." She smiles at Jo who hastily picks up her jaw to return the gesture. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, come take a seat at the bar, is John parking the car?"
Elena shakes her head. "No, actually he's already gone."
Ellen puts her hands on her hips. "He just dropped you at the curb?" she asks in disbelief.
Elena nods matter of factly.
"Huh. You must've really gotten under his skin."
Elena shrugs delicately. "It's a gift."
Ellen looks her over, taking in her loose curls and old jeans, the half-buttoned, over-sized plaid shirt that unquestionably belonged to a man – and Ellen had a guess as to who – and finally the bruise peeking out from beneath the collar.
She gestures towards it. "Have you had that looked at?"
Elena nods, hand half raised as if to attempt to cover it properly.
Ellen narrows her eyes.
Elena understands right away and instead of covering it, she pushes aside her shirt, revealing her bare shoulder and the enormous – and ugly – bruise covering it. "It's a little sore, but it should be okay in a few weeks."
Ellen tsks her tongue, looking quite a bit like a woman sucking on a sour lemon. "Why that man thinks a hunt is an appropriate place for a teenage girl…" She cuts herself off, coming over to take Elena's bag and usher her into a bar stool. "Jo, get the girl some water, I'm gonna go find an ice pack."
Ellen disappears in the back before Elena can say anything.
Jo brings over a glass over water, smiling tentatively at the other girl. Elena smiles back, accepting the water.
"You got that hunting?" Jo asks.
Elena nods, self-consciously tugging her shirt back into place. "Your mom has it wrong though, John doesn't think a hunt is an appropriate place for a teenage girl, either," she says hastily, feeling a certain kind of defensiveness on behalf of her reluctant mentor.
Sure, John might've unceremoniously dumped her with strangers in the middle of nowhere, but he wouldn't take her on any hunt if he had it his way.
"How did you get him to take you, then?" Jo asks, sounding very much like she's asking for tips.
"I wouldn't recommend my methods," Elena says evasively.
Jo looks at her questioningly.
Elena sighs. "It's a complicated mix of 'I have nowhere else to go' and leverage, of course."
Jo looks both startled and curious. Before she can ask any more questions, her mom returns with an icepack in one hand and a phone in the other.
She hands Elena the icepack and a fresh hand towel from beneath the bar as she talks to one of her suppliers on the phone.
"Thank you," Elena mouths to her, carefully applying the now-wrapped icepack to her bruise.
Ellen nods, leaving the two girls alone again as she goes in search of her inventory lists.
"So, what were you hunting when you got that?" Jo asks.
"It was a Vetala," Elena replies.
Jo leans in, looking very excited. "Really? That's so cool," she gushes, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling with excitement.
Elena smiles at her, amused by the other girl's excitement. "I should tell you that I've only been doing this since November and therefore John has decided that I'm only allowed to do research, pick up food, and as of recently, drive the getaway car and shoot a gun from said getaway car." Elena shrugs ruefully. "Which, by the way, only happened because of a run in with a rogue werewolf that I handled exceptionally well."
Jo makes a face, looking somewhat disappointed, but still enthusiastic.
"If John only wants you do that stuff, where did you get that massive bruise?" Jo asks.
Said bruise throbs painfully as Elena adjusts the icepack. "Well John might not want me to spend any one-on-one time with Vetalas…" she grins good-naturedly. "But that doesn't mean the Vetalas don't want to spend time with me."
Jo laughs at that.
"I see the two of you are gettin' along just fine," Ellen says approvingly as she returns from the back, finished with her business.
Jo nods, smiling at Elena who returns the gesture brightly, causing the other girl to duck her head abashedly.
"Well, Elena," Elena begins, "I admit when John said you'd be comin', I was hoping I'd be able to put you to work for a few days while he cools off, but with that bruise on your shoulder I'm not so sure that's a good idea."
Elena shakes her head immediately. "Oh no, it's fine, really. I'll be fine as long as I don't lift anything too heavy or too high." She looks earnest. "Please, let me help out," she adds.
Ellen looks reluctant but nods her agreement. "Well, you let me know if it's bothering you, all right?"
Elena nods eagerly in return. "Of course. Whatever I can do to help."
"I'll admit, I'm a bit foggy on your exact age, but having an extra set of hands for the next couple of nights might help out seeing as Jo isn't quite old enough to serve alcohol just yet."
"How old do you have to be to serve alcohol in Nebraska?" Elena asks.
"Nineteen," Ellen replies.
Elena considers this, then goes for honesty. "Well, I have an I.D. that says I'm old enough," she says. She's never needed a fake I.D. before, but Dean had been all too happy to create a whole set for her. He claims it's so she can help with cases, but considering some of the names he came up with, she's sure it was just for the novelty of getting to do girls names for once.
Ellen catches her drift, then chuckles at the girl's craftiness. "Good enough for me, just let me know if I should call ya something else in case any piggies come sniffing around."
"Ellie Maple," Elena says with a straight face.
"Let me guess, you grew up on Maple Street?" Ellen asks, sounding amused.
"I did," Elena confirms.
"John's oldest boy pick that one?" Ellen follows up. She's not surprised when Elena nods. "I hope you gave him hell for that one."
"He says I'm lucky he didn't pick Honey Maple," Elena replies, a twinkle of affection shining in her dark eyes.
Ellen clucks shaking her head. "That boy." She's never met either of the younger Winchesters, but she's heard enough stories to not be surprised at the fake name he picked for the pretty girl in front of her. It's just on the right side of appropriate, with enough affection and teasing to show that he really cares for the recipient but can't resist a chance to play a prank when the opportunity arises.
"So Elena can serve alcohol, but I can't?" Jo asks in disbelief.
"You don't have an I.D. that says you're old enough, sweetheart," Ellen says firmly.
She leaves them again to sort out the one table in the corner that's getting ready to leave.
Jo turns to Elena. "So do you think you could get me one of those I.D.'s?" she asks seriously. "You get way better tips when you're serving alcohol, and my birthday isn't until September.
Elena shakes her head. "No deal. I have a feeling your mom can get pretty scary when she wants to."
Jo sighs. "So, when is your birthday?" she asks, switching topics now that she knows her attempts are futile.
"Next month," Elena says. "And I really will be 19," she adds before Jo can ask.
Jo nods. "I'll be 19, too."
The man with the mullet who had been sleeping on the pool table is awake now and wandering over towards them.
He stops dead at the sight of Elena. "You a honeypot?"
She shakes her head, bemused. "No, I'm a hunter-in-training," she replies.
He narrows his eyes at her. "Who's training you?" he all but demands.
"John Winchester," she says honestly. "And his son Dean, too," she adds for good measure.
The man considers her through suspicious eyes.
Jo rolls her own. "Ash, chill out, Ellie's cool."
Ash narrows his eyes at Elena but wanders off without a word.
Jo smiles at Elena. "Welcome to the madhouse."
Elena is an instant hit with their patrons. She keeps her oversized shirt on to hide her bruise but ties it up at her waist and rolls up the sleeve. With her high ponytail and killer grin, she's the hit of roadhouse.
Jo and Ellen watch in amazement as she takes to being a barmaid like she's been doing it her whole life. Elena has a gift with people, everything about her seems to pull them in, and what's more, her attractiveness doesn't seem to demean other people, but to lift them with her. When she smiles at the sour-faced Police Chief, he looks twenty years younger, his own returning grin reminding the other patrons of the fresh-faced deputy he once was. By the end of the first night, even paranoid Ash is taken with her.
During lulls, Elena follows Jo's lead in clearing tables and wiping down the bar, the two of them chatting about their lives.
"What did you say to John to piss him off so much that he dropped you here like that?" Jo blurts out the second night.
Elena shrugs, rolling her eyes, "I have a special gift for pissing him off. I think I just told him to lighten up one too many times and he got sick of me." She gestures with her dishrag. "Now I'm here until he starts feeling guilty for ditching me."
Jo narrows her eyes, not fully believing her. "That's not the whole story, is it?"
Elena sighs, but shakes her head, admitting defeat easily. "I might've done it on purpose," she confesses quietly.
"Why?" Jo asks.
Elena smiles, unashamed. "I thought that he'd drop me with Dean, not total strangers." She gestures at Jo quickly. "No offense."
Jo shakes her head. "None taken. Dean is his son, right?"
Elena nods. "I'm usually with Dean, not John, but I've been with John since March, and frankly he's exhausting."
"Dean seems like quite a guy," Jo says casually.
Elena nods. "Yeah, he really is."
"Exactly how massive is your crush on him?" Jo asks bluntly.
Elena is evasive. "Well, what girl wouldn't have a crush on a guy like him?" she asks rhetorically. "I mean, girls who are attracted to guys, that is," she amends.
Jo nods as her stomach flips. "Right," she agrees. "What girl wouldn't?" she echoes, even though she's never met Dean Winchester or heard enough about him to judge his crush worthiness.
A patron calls out for some assistance, causing Elena to turn, sending her ponytail flying over her shoulder, Jo's breath catching in her chest.
Jo stands there, clutching her towel as Elena walks over, the other girl already laughing at whatever the patron is saying to her, a dawning realization working its way into Jo's head.
Separately, it occurs to her that Elena Gilbert is very crush-worthy too, embarrassingly so.
Early in the dawning hours of the fourth morning, Jo sleepily makes her way to the kitchen for a glass of water, intent on a few more hours of sleep after satisfying her thirst. She's surprised to see Elena sitting at the table in the early dawn light, talking to someone on the phone. She's dressed for a run, and the dewy glistening quality of her skin suggests she's already come and gone.
Jo hovers at the edge of the kitchen; aware that Elena hasn't seemed to notice her, she listens.
"No, Dean, you don't need to come get me, I'm fine," she says quietly. "Really," she adds. "It's not like he dropped me in the middle of the desert or anything."
Dean must've said something funny because Elena laughs in a way that makes Jo's skin break out in shivers.
"I could breathe in a way he doesn't like and he'd tell me I was being disrespectful," is Elena's dry response to whatever Dean is saying.
Elena is wearing only a tank top, baring her injured shoulder for the first time since her arrival. The bruise is livid with color even in the pre-dawn light, a deep, angry red at the center, blossoming into a swirl of violent purple and sickening navy.
Almost as if Elena heard Jo's thoughts, she reached up to touch her bruise.
"It's getting better, it's still pretty gross to look at though." Elena grins. "I'll send you a picture later."
Jo wrinkles her nose in confusion. Who sends a picture of their injury to a guy they like?
"Dean, really, it's okay. I'm sure he'll be back for me soon."
Elena rolls her eyes fondly at whatever Dean says.
Jo takes in her easy posture, the relaxed way her head lolls against the back of her chair. Maybe it's that Elena thinks she is alone, or the after-effect of her run, but Jo has a feeling it has more to do with the man on the other end of the phone.
"All right, how about this," Elena is saying. "If he doesn't call in the next three days, you have my full permission to go all White Horse – in your Black Impala – and come rescue me from these nice midwestern women, okay?"
Jo smiles at Elena's subtle compliment to herself and her mom.
As Elena starts interrogating Dean as to why exactly he is awake at an hour he usually spends drooling into her shoulder – Elena's words – Jo slowly backs out of the kitchen, heading back to bed without her water.
Maybe Elena would still be relaxed on the phone with Dean if she knew Jo was there, but Jo doesn't intend to find out if that isn't the case.
Dean doesn't have to swoop in a rescue Elena because the next afternoon John Winchester himself marches into the roadhouse and drops an accordion folder down on the table that Elena is in the process of cleaning.
Elena doesn't skip a beat. "I'm not your secretary," she deadpans.
John snorts, rolling his eyes at her. "It's your finals, I picked 'em up from your school on the way here, you have until the first week of June to complete them. If you pass all of 'em, the principle has no problem with you graduating with the rest of your class," he explains succinctly. "Of course, for obvious reasons I declined you walking at the ceremony with your friends," he adds.
Elena stares at him for a moment, then— "You just want something to distract me from annoying you."
John looks close to rubbing his temples in annoyance. "No, Elena, I just know that graduating high school is gonna be important to you in a few years; that it was important to your father."
That shuts Elena up finally. She picks up the folder carefully, hugging it to her chest. "Thank you," she says carefully.
John nods. He gestures at Elena's shoulder, hidden beneath a plain blue t-shirt. "How's the arm?"
"Better," Elena says, glancing down at it. It's dawning on her now that maybe as much as she annoyed John, he really just sent her to a place where she'd have a little time to recover.
"Good," he says succinctly.
Now that she's had time to absorb his presence and properly process what he just said, the real implication of the accordion folder tucked into her arms is dawning on her. "You went to Virginia?" she asks, barely daring to breathe let alone hope.
"Everything seems in order," he reassures her. He smirks, adding for good measure, "Everyone seems real relieved now that the Mikaelsons are out of their hair."
Elena sags with relief. "Good, that's good."
"It's awfully rude of you to ignore the proprietor of this establishment," Ellen says, interrupting them. She over-enunciates for John's benefit.
He turns to her, giving her a weary smile. "Hello Ellen, thanks for helping out."
Ellen narrows her eyes at him. "Sit down," she gestures. "Have some lunch while Elena gathers her things and the girls say goodbye. And while you eat you can tell me about whatever in the hell bruised the heavens out of that poor girl's arm."
John looks caught, but Elena makes her escape, folder full of final exams clutched to her chest as she pulls her phone out of her pocket to text Dean.
As Elena climbs the stairs, she hears Ash ask, "Did you just call her Elena?"
When Jo finally drops into bed that night it's hours after Elena departed with John; the two of them bickering all the while. She's contemplating if she even has the energy to get up and get ready for bed properly when she becomes aware of a rectangle of bundled paper under her.
She sits up to look at it properly, discovering it's an overstuffed envelope with her name hastily scrawled on the front. She opens it, shocked to find it absolutely stacked with cash and a quickly scribbled note from Elena.
Jo,
Thanks for showing me the ropes.
You're gonna be an excellent barmaid come September!
-Elena
P.S. Trust me, I don't need the money.
Jo stares at it open-mouthed. She has a sneaking suspicion that it's all of the money Elena's made in the past five days since her arrival, and Jo is overwhelmed at the kindness and deeply furious at it too. She doesn't need another reason to like Elena any more than she already does.
AN: It's never actually specified where the roadhouse is, so I had a little fun picking a place. I decided to a) stay in the midwest and therefore b) close to Sioux Falls (Bellevue, Nebraska is about 3 hours from Sioux Falls, perfectly reasonable to people like Sam, Dean, and Bobby).
I am personally guilty of sending my best friend pictures of all of my gross injuries - one time I walked into the curb because I was distracted by a song I was listening to (epiphany by Taylor Swift, yes the day it came out) so naturally I sent a picture of the golfball-sized road-rash I got from it to her. Also one time I slipped out of the bathtub and bruised the back of my thigh so badly that I couldn't go to class for two days because I couldn't sit and she got a picture of the absolutely insane shade of banana yellow and deep maroon it turned within a few days. Luckily she's not squeamish! She also got a picture of my knee after I fell off my porch last fall! I'm gonna stop there even though there are wilder/funnier (more embarrassing) stories and injuries but the point is that I hurt myself in truly stupid ways and I'm way too amused by it.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Please leave a review! I'll see y'all Sunday!
xoxo
-Pixie
