The day passed by and Blair spent most of it consuming every morsel of junk food in the house. As the sun traveled west to retire for the night, the phone rang. She ran to it and answered anxiously. "Jo?"

"Hi Blair. Jo left you unattended?"

The blonde immediately recognized the familiar cluck on the other end of the line. "Oh. Hi, Mrs. Garrett," she greeted her halfheartedly.

"Is everything okay Blair? You sound strange."

"I'm fine," the heiress answered, trying to convince herself it was true. Meanwhile, her eyes and nose where raw from crying.

"Okay, if you say so. Anyway, I called to tell you the girls and I will be spending the night here in Utica. It was a hectic day with fighting the crowds at the convention and I don't feel like fighting traffic too. Besides," Mrs. Garrett giggled, "Christopher Lee isn't appearing until tomorrow."

"Have a good time then. We'll see you tomorrow." Or at least I will, Blair thought.

"Are you sure you're all right?" The redhead persisted. "Did something happen between you two?"

Blair could hear Tootie in the background: "Did something happen between who?"

"No. Everything's fine," Blair lied.

"Well, if you say so," the mentor said a second time. "See you tomorrow afternoon then."

"Bye Mrs. Garrett."

As she hung up the phone, Blair heard Jo's motorcycle pull up, then booted feet ascending the stairs. It took everything she had to keep from rushing to the door.

"Hey," Jo greeted her friend tentatively. Oh no, she's been cryin'. It kills me to see her in tears.

"Hi, Jo. I know you're pissed at me but I'm still glad you got home safely."

"Listen...uh...I'm sorry I blew up like that. My dad's a nice guy but the biggest thing he ever gave me was his temper." She cracked a slight smile.

"Jo, I shouldn't have assumed you'd go to the fundraiser. I-"

"Forget about the stupid fundraiser. It doesn't matter. Umm...we would've kissed this morning if I were a better cook." Jo laughed softly.

"Yes, and I cleaned up the mess, remember?" Blair smiled.

"Well, uh, how do you feel about it?"

"To be honest, I was frustrated."

"I told ya I'd clean it."

"No, I mean I was frustrated that...that we didn't kiss," Blair answered bashfully.

"Oh." Jo felt relieved but at the same time more afraid. "We don't have to do anything about it. Really, Blair. I...I mean maybe we should just forget it ever happened."

"Is that what you want? Because if it is, I'll respect your wishes."

"Respect my wishes? Blair, I don't understand ya at all. You've been flirtin' with me and starin' at me. When we rode my bike, you nearly cut off my circulation. You...you rested your chin on my shoulder. We almost kissed! Next thing I know, you're fixin' me up with some guy. What the hell am I supposta think? Jo turned away and looked out the window as she felt herself about to burst into tears.

"Jo, I really didn't mean to get you upset. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you."

"Fixin' me up on a date is dumb way to show it," Jo sniffed.

"I was trying to help," Blair said quietly as she placed her hands on shoulders as tense as steel bands.

Upon feeling her friend's gentle touch, Jo took a deep breath. Part of her wanted to recoil from the contact, yet the other wanted to melt into the arms of the woman she loved so desperately. "Help?" Jo was exasperated. "How is that supposta help me?" She continued looking out the window to try and hold herself together as her tears emerged.

"More than anything, I want you to be happy. I just thought if you could meet someone nice and you cared for one another, I could stop worrying about you and go on with my life." Blair's tears started to fall once again. "I was so wrong. Right now I can go anywhere I want in the world, but I just want to be with you, wherever you are."

Not wanting to lose complete control over her emotions, Jo couldn't quite bring herself to look at Blair. At this moment she was convinced if she saw her lovely face, she'd fall over from the sheer impact. As Jo looked around the yard, a little blur of grey caught her attention. A squirrel scurried about the ground gathering acorns, studying them closely. It seemed to be consciously picking out which ones to keep.

"You see that squirrel out there?" Jo reached up and lay her hand over Blair's as it rested on her shoulder. "It seems to know just what it needs to do," she observed. "If only our lives could be that simple."

"If you really think about it, nobody's life is simple. That squirrel might have a hard winter to face. But it doesn't have to be that way for us. I...I love you Jo," Blair murmured.

Jo turned around to finally meet Blair's soulful eyes which were also filled with tears. "I love you too Princess. I can't even remember a time when I didn't."

Blair smiled the most beautiful smile Jo had ever seen and wrapped her arms around Jo's waist. "That kissing thing, shall we try it again?"

"Okay, you talked me into it," the tomboy said as she moved in closer.

Their first kiss was feather light, barely a brush. The second, more definite; the third was filled with passion, stoking the fires that had been burning between them for ages. Jo found the heiress' lips to be soft, incredibly soft. Her hair smelled of lavender and the scent intoxicated Jo. Both of them moaned when their tongues touched, and Blair felt a jolt go straight to her core. The two found breathing difficult but at the same time felt a great buildup of tension being freed after many years of longing.

"Woah," Jo said after they finally broke the kiss to get a breath.

"Yeah," Blair agreed.

"I think we'd better sit because I'm gonna fall over," Jo laughed.

"Let's go to the sofa and we can hold each other up," Blair replied as they walked into the other room arm in arm.

Blair lay her head on Jo's shoulder and Jo was happy to keep inhaling the sweet scent of lavender from her cascading hair. "I've sat here so many times thinkin' of you, wishing you were in my arms the way ya are now," Jo confided.

"That's exactly what I wished when I was staring at you last night, among other things," the blonde confessed with a grin.

"Wait," Jo said. "Where is everyone?"

"Mrs. Garrett called just before you got back. They won't be home until tomorrow."

"Oh?" Jo raised her eyebrows and grinned the biggest grin Blair had seen in months.

"We can still go to the movies," Blair offered.

"The movies? Like hell we are!" Jo exclaimed as she went in for another kiss.

"I knew that would get you," Blair giggled.