Disclaimer: own nothing but my own characters. did minor reworking on this chapter.
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By the time JD finally left the Penny all he wanted to do was go home and sleep, but dinner awaited him over at the McNally house as well as some sort of surprise on top of that. Just as he was reaching his car, he heard someone call out his name from behind.
"Hey Ryan, you headed home?" called Boyko from across the parking lot
"Not really why? You need a ride or something sir?" called back JD
"Well...kind of. The missus wants me to meet her at some dance recital for our daughter but my car won't start and I can't reach her. So..." replied Boyko
"Shouldn't be a problem" answered JD
"Great, the recital's at Toronto School of Dance" supplied Boyko
"I know where that is no problem, hop in" responded JD
"Okay, let me just grab my bag" replied Boyko quickly gathering his bag from the curb
"Alright" replied JD. Yeah he was going to be late for dinner now, but what can he really do about it? His TO asked him for a ride and he wasn't going to shut him down just because he has other plans especially since he was the only one leaving now.
"I'm not keeping you from anything am I?" asked Boyko
"Sort of but don't worry about it, I was just having dinner with my family. They will understand," answered JD brushing it off like it was nothing
"Family, I thought that you were from St. Thomas?" asked Boyko a little surprised by the comment
"Yeah I am, but I have an uncle and cousin who live in the city. I was seeing them for dinner tonight. If I'm late they'll understand," replied JD
"Okay, are they good with you being a police officer?" asked Boyko trying to learn a little more about his rookie
"Yeah they're great with it; my uncle's actually a police officer himself. So it makes it kind of easier on them and me," replied JD
"What about the rest of your family back in St. Thomas what do they all do?" asked Boyko starting to get intrigued
"Well I got four brothers and three sisters. Two firefighters with a third firefighter coming after they finish school, two medics with another paramedic planned also after school is done and one nurse. I'm the only one to go outside of the family business, other than my mom who's a lawyer," replied JD knowing that it would shock Boyko
"Wow eight kids that must have been tough, you leave anyone special behind?" asked Boyko trying to recover from his shock
"Yeah well sort of, I have or had a girlfriend. She's a year younger than me, she could have started college the same year as me but she decided to stay back and graduate with all of her friends," stated JD
"Okay I see. How long were you two together for?" asked Boyko
"Since she was about thirteen and I was fourteen," replied JD
"Five years that's a lifetime, for teenagers. Must have been hard leaving her," replied Boyko
"It is...I mean was. She meant the world to me even if she isn't here with me. She was my best friend and the reason I wanted to become a cop in the first place," stated JD
"That's some girl, to make you..." started Boyko
"So sentimental? Don't worry I've heard it before and I don't really care. Not many nineteen years old can say they've ever really been in love before so..." stated JD
"I get it, trust me Ryan, I get it" responded Boyko
"Okay, well we're here. If you need a ride in tomorrow just give me a call and I'll give you a ride or something" supplied JD as he pulled up outside of the studio
"Thanks I'll keep that in mind, you get going to that dinner and if they ask just say you we're helping a friend. They should understand," stated Boyko as he was getting out of the car
"Yeah hopefully they should. Enjoy your evening" called out JD through his open passenger window
"You too" replied Boyko as he watched the kid pull away. Then JD was off across town, to a dinner that he was over an hour and a half late to.
Andy knew that there was no way that JD was going to be late for this dinner he promised her that he would be there on time. Yet it's been close to two hours and there's been no sign of him and that worried her. If he was stuck at work he would have called and said something but this...it wasn't like him, he always showed up. As for JD he knew that his cousin had to be freaking out over the fact that he was over two hours late for dinner but he figures she'd understand that he was helping out a friend in need. By the time, he got to the apartment he was pretty certain that dinner would have already had been eaten and that Andy would be beyond pissed with him. Never in the past four months had JD ever been this nervous to knock on a front door before, then again he knows what lays ahead of him behind that door. Sure enough the second his hand left the door, he came face to face with a fourteen-year-old girl fuming with anger and then grabbing him as if her life depended on him being there.
"Where have you been I've been worried sick?" asked Andy rushing over to give him a hug
"Sorry Andy, I went to the Penny after work and as I was leaving to head over here somebody asked me if I could give them a ride," replied JD returning the hug
"Who?" asked Andy out of curiosity
"My TO he needed a lift somewhere, his car was at the barn it wouldn't start and he had to meet his wife at their daughters dance recital" answered JD
"So he asked you to give him a ride to it?" asked Tommy from the living room, sober for one night
"Yeah, I was the first person he saw and I figured it wouldn't be a problem. So again sorry am I too late for leftovers?" asked JD
"No you're never too late for leftovers but if you were any later you might have missed the surprise," stated Andy starting to get excited
"What surprise you never told me that there was a surprise with this dinner," replied JD
"If I did, you wouldn't have let me be until I told you what it was" responded Andy
"True, so..." started JD
"So what?" asked Andy
"Do I have to beg?" asked JD
"Yes, yes you do. I haven't seen a good begging in days," replied Andy smirking
"Too bad, McNally. If there's one thing that I don't do it's beg for anything or for anyone," replied JD he too smirking
"Not even for me?" asked his ex-girlfriend Kelly Gordon
"K...Kelly? Is that you?" asked JD in shock
"Yeah, hi Ryan. I thought I'd come and surprise you for the weekend but if you don't want me..." started Kelly a little taken aback by his reaction
"No, I do...don't leave it's just that..." started and stopped JD
"I know we left things up in the air before you left for the academy. I'm sorry about that; everyone was telling me that it was better if I let you go. That you didn't need some high school kid holding you back and I listened to them," stated Kelly
"I figured that out, but what was your heart telling you to do? You always told me to follow my heart what about you, did you follow yours?" asked JD
"I guess...actually I know that I ignored mine. It was screaming at me to tell you to come back to me, not to leave but I knew you had to go. But I wanted to follow you so badly" stated Kelly
"Yet you didn't Kelly and that hurt a lot" replied JD not showing hurt but anger
"I know that and I'm sorry about that," said Kelly starting to plead with him
"You can be as sorry as you want Kelly, but it won't change a thing. Andy thanks for dinner but I'm not hungry, I pulled early shift tomorrow, should probably get home and hit the hay. It's nice to see you again Kelly, hope you have a nice visit here" replied JD as he turned and headed for the door
"JD..." called Andy but it was too late he was gone
"Let him go Andy, I deserve this. I hurt him and it's going to take time for him to forgive me, if he forgives me," stated Kelly trying to grasp herself what just happened
"He'll forgive you Kelly, he loves you. It's just that a lots happened in the past four months for him and you just caught him by surprise," stated Andy
"Yeah surprise...story of our relationship. Nothing was ever easy for us, why'd I think it would be different this time?" asked Kelly more to herself then to Andy
"Because you love him and you two are just like me your still kids," answered Andy
"Yeah kids who only half not what they want to do with their lives. He had known since before we met that he wanted to be a police officer as for me...," stated Kelly remembering back on their childhood together
"Your still figuring it out nothing's wrong with that. Who say's we need to have a life plan by the time we're eighteen anyways?" asked Andy
"Just about everybody you know wants to make sure you know what you want to do with your life. It's as if it's their mission or something to make sure that you know what you want to do. That's kind of why Ryan and I got on so well and lasted as long, he never expected me to be anyone other than myself and I liked that," stated Kelly with a slight smile on her face
"I bet he's a good guy Kelly. Give him time, I shouldn't have surprised him like that, I just thought he'd like it," stated Andy
"I know it's not your fault Andy. Trust me, it's more mine than anyone else's" replied Kelly.
For JD it was as if he was reliving that last summer before the academy when everything was going so good until the moment Kelly decided to break his heart and leave him. Where did Andy get off trying to re-connect him with his old girlfriend? As much as he misses her, he's just not sure if he's able to trust her or himself around her, yet.
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