This was prompted by 'writingdawn'! I hope this is to your liking, love! :)

Enjoy!

Jerome ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. He strolled down the sidewalk in town, passing shops and other people, a couple tourists snapped pictures of their friends. He rolled his blue eyes. What was so interesting about Liverpool anyway?

"Gerbil, are you listening to me?" Poppy called, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Yes, Poopy, I heard you." He sighed, pushing her hand away.

"What did I say?" she challenged, planting her hands on her hips.

"You were complaining about the tourists." He replied in a monotone.

She looked surprised for a second before nodding, leaving him alone about it. "So…"

"So…" he echoed.

"Can you buy me an ice cream." She smiled, tilting her head toward the shop ahead of them.

"Fine," he groaned dramatically but smiled and held the door open for her. She ducked under his arm and skipped up to the counter, looking into the windows of the freezer at the register.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" the guy at the counter smiled brilliant, eyes trained on Poppy.

"A waffle bowl with strawberry ice cream and walnuts on top." She relayed her favorite.

The teenager's eyes drifted to Jerome and he glared at the boy, obviously he was older than her by a few years. "I'll take a chocolate malt."

"Coming right up," he nodded, backing away from the counter and disappearing in the backroom. When he came back, he handed them their orders and tallied their total. Jerome paid and they left, regardless of Poppy's complaints.

"Can I ask you something?" she questioned after a few minutes.

Jerome nodded silently, sucking the malt through the striped straw.

"Why do you love Joy?" she made a face at the name. She hadn't meant to, but the other night she and her father had met Joy for the first time as Jerome's girlfriend. And she just didn't seem like Jerome's perfect match, in Poppy's opinion. Their father had been a little upset that Jerome's relationship with Mara hadn't worked out; he had really liked Mara. But Joy was okay.

Jerome stiffened at his sister's blunt question. "Well, she just…gets me, I guess." He shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Poppy wondered.

Granted, she was only twelve years old, but she just couldn't understand how someone could love someone for years and then forget them in an instant. How did love work? It sounded perfect and heartbreaking and beautiful and ugly, all at the same time.

"She and I have a lot in common. We both have problems with our dads and our parents are divorced and she messes everything up. And plus, she's adorable." He said after a second thought. But then his vision drifted to the sky. Why did he love Joy? He shook his head. "I do you ask?"

"I don't know, I guess I just don't understand how you jumped from loving Mara and hating Joy for three years to loving Joy and being all awkward around Mara."

"Well, it's complicated."

"Could you try to explain it to me? I'm a Clarke – we're smart." She winked.

Jerome bumped her shoulder gently and took another sip from his malt before speaking again. "I…cheated on Mara, and I regret it, but Joy—"

"Ruined everything for you and Mara," Poppy finished.

"Poppy," he snapped, tossing his half-finished malt into the trash bin beside him as he pulled her to a halt. "Would you stay out of my love life?"

"No, because this isn't love," she retorted, ripping her elbow from his grip.

"What do you know about love? You're only twelve." He spat.

"I know that you never look at Joy the way you looked at Mara." She said confidently.

Jerome recoiled at her words.

"Jerome," she began, pushing her dirty-blonde hair out of her raging blue-green eyes. "You never looked at Joy twice before and suddenly you're in love with her? How does that even work? I think you need to mull over this for a while and screw your head back on straight. Before you even start, no this is not because I want Mara to be my older sister. This is about what makes you happy. You hardly ever smile anymore. Maybe a smirk here and there, but it's not the same. When you and Mara were dating, you were always smiling. I'll take a cab home. I don't wanna be around you right now." She glared, turning on her heel, throwing her ice cream away and stomping away from him.

"Poppy!" he cried in frustration.

"No, Jerome, you're setting a bad example for your little sister."

Flip. One flip after another. The magazine's pages turned over easily in her gentle hands. Her brown eyes scanned over the pages; over the article and then to the picture. She was so beautiful…

"Fabian," Mara shook his shoulder gently.

His head snapped around quickly and he looked at her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I know; are you okay?" she asked with a small, knowing smile.

"Yeah, why?" he ran a hand though his brown hair; oblivious to what she was hinting at.

"You've been staring at Joy for the last three minutes."

"I…I have?" he whispered.

She nodded.

He looked down, slightly flustered. "I-I'm sorry, Mara—"

"You really like her don't you?"

Fabian's blue eyes darted around the room. Oh, this was bad. He didn't want to upset her, but he didn't know how to get out of it. If only he was as manipulative as Jerome…

Mara took his silence as a positive answer and laid a hand on his reassuringly. "It's okay. I understand; old loves die hard. I can say that from personal experience."

"But it's no use," he shook his head. "Jerome is—"

"Breaking up with her," Mara finished, shock lacing her voice.

"You're what?" Joy shrieked. Jerome looked down at her sympathetically.

"Listen, Joyless, let me explain why!" he trailed after her as she marched out of the room, eyes tearing up.

She hid her face behind her brown hair and sniffed. "Leave me alone, Slimeball."

Jerome bit the inside of his right cheek and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Drama queen," he muttered, turning back into the common room. He hated that his twelve year old sister had been smarter about his relationships than he had been, but he was partially grateful toward her. He shouldn't be leading Joy on to believe that he was happy dating her. He had been blind.

Joy was beautiful and she made him happy, as a friend, and they had things in common and he had fun around her and she made him feel good, but she wasn't Mara. No one could replace Mara Jaffray.

Fabian watched Jerome for a second before he stood up. "I'm going to go check on her."

Mara nodded in understanding and picked up his books, stacking them neatly on the dining room table. When she turned around, she came face to chest with Jerome.

"Jerome," she acknowledged.

"Admit it, Jaffray," Jerome smirked, slowly taking one step after another closer to her.

"Admit what?" she asked innocently, cocking her head the side.

"You still love me."

Mara cowardly walked backwards until her back hit the wall behind her. "I-I really don't want to be sucked back into you, Jerome."

"And I don't want to be sucked back into you." He stated. "It seems neither of our wishes shall be granted."

"Jerome…I…" she started weakly and he finished himself,

"I love you, too."

And he leant into her, placing his hands beside her head. He pressed his lips to hers gently and her protests caught in her throat. Oh, how she had missed his kisses.

Jerome pulled back a moment later, blowing out a breath of wonder.

"What?" she asked shyly, her hand resting on chest, thumb and forefinger playing with the button on his collar.

"I had forgotten what your lips do to me."

Mara blushed at his wolfish grin and looked at her shoes.

"Alright, it's official." He declared, clapping his hands and hopping back from her.

"What is?" she questioned hurriedly.

"We're going to be friends."

Mara stared at him wide-eyed. After confessing their love to each other and sharing a kiss, he wanted to be friends? How was that supposed to work? After experiencing one of his glorious kisses for the first time in quite a while, she doubted she'd be able to go another second without feeling his lips again.

"We're going to be best friends for two years and then I'll ask you out, and you'll say yes, and I won't make any stupid mistakes." He growled, as if scolding himself. "I'm doing this all over again. And I will continue doing it over and over and over again, until I get it right." he promised.

Mara sighed. "Okay, I…I don't trust you anymore though. You know that right?"

Pain flashed across his sparkling blue eyes as he nodded. "I know, but I'm going to fix that, I promise. We belong together."

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And review! And prompt! :D

"Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past. Donate every dime you have? Would you call old friends you never see? Reminisce old memories. Would you forgive your enemies? Would you find that one you're dreamin' of? Swear up and down to God above that you finally fall in love. If today was your last day."

-Rachel