A/N – Thanks again for the great support in the reviews, favouriting and alerting. Means a lot.

So, Reunion here we come!

Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

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Chapter 6

Callen slipped into the reunion, late and unnoticed. He stood in the shadows and looked around at the sea of faces, wondering if he would still recognise her. He saw some familiar faces; ones he didn't want to meet again and a few that he'd be okay with.

But not the one he came to see.

He made his way to the bar, ordered a drink and took a seat on a bar stool and waited. Maybe she would find him easier. He'd give it half an hour then he'd leave.

"You know, you remind me a lot of this guy I knew," came a gentle voice from next to him before he'd even taken a second sip of his drink. A slow smile spread across his face.

Callen turned to look at the woman as she continued.

"He promised me a dance at our graduation but didn't show."

"Really?" he answered. He took in all of her in a slow perusing look. She was still beautiful, gentle and welcoming. So this was what he missed out on by skipping graduation – seeing her all dressed up. He really was an idiot for that.

"Silly guy," Callen replied and he wasn't just referring to missing out on dancing with her. She looked gorgeous. Her brown hair was held back from her face with two sparkly clips, her eyes were that shining, welcoming amber they'd always been and the dress … Well, he honestly couldn't think of any other way to put it aside from wow! Actually he could, he just wasn't sure he wanted to let his mind go there just yet. After all, what was the chance a woman like, beautiful and caring, was actually available?

"You'd think, wouldn't you? But he had his reasons. He might make up for it yet." She returned his look of appreciation with a smile.

"How would he do that?" Callen caught her gaze when she looked back to his face. There was a twitch of her lips, like she was trying not to laugh.

"Hoping he shows at this reunion. Might take him more than one dance to make it up to me though."

"Guess he'd better start soon then." Callen slid off his stool and held out his hand to her.

Jo smiled at him again, that welcoming smile she always had for him. "Guess you'd better." She placed her hand in his as she turned on her stool so she faced him completely. He pulled her off and into his arms for a hug.

"Nice to see you again Jo," he said near her ear, as he held her tight.

Jo pulled back slightly and looked up at him. "Pleasure to see you again, G." They walked onto the dance floor hand in hand before Callen took her in his arms again.

"So how many dances is this debt going to take?" he asked.

"How long are you planning on staying here for?" she sent back at him.

"As long as you want me," Callen replied. "I can stick around for a while." Now he had her, he wasn't too worried about leaving.

"Not interested in anyone else here?" Jo asked. He saw her lips twitch again as she tried not to smile, though she couldn't hide it from her eyes.

"You know I'm not. That's why you sent the hand written invitation," he told her.

"Needed to let you know I was coming. Glad to know one of them made it to you."

It took him a moment to answer; he was slightly distracted by the feel of her in his arms. Something he hadn't really experienced except for the odd hug and that night in her bed. This was totally different though. Their bodies were close, they were slowly moving with each other – and she was awake this time.

"You were determined," Callen said. "Guessing you still don't take no for an answer."

Jo chuckled softly. "You worked that out the first day you met me. Didn't really think that would change did you?" she asked.

"You wouldn't be you if it did." Callen pulled her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder. It felt so right. Somehow he had a feeling if he'd actually stuck around for graduation, he may not have been able to leave her behind. They danced in silence for a couple of dances, enjoyed being together again, before he broke the silence.

"What should I know about the modern day Jo?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "What do you want to know?"

Everything. Do I have a chance? Instead he asked, "What are you doing these days?"

"High school teacher," she replied.

That surprised him. "Teaching what?" he asked.

Jo grinned. "English."

"Thought you were going to do law."

She shrugged. "Changed my mind. I looked into English based courses, found a couple of colleges that had decent scholarships. One of the late applications I sent in came through."

Now that he thought of it, teacher definitely seemed to fit her better than lawyer.

"Any favourite students or is a teacher not allowed to admit that?" Callen asked.

One side of Jo's mouth tilted in a lopsided, cheeky smile. "Not to the students," she told.

"So?" Callen prodded.

"There was one," she admitted. "Early on. I had a lot of fun teaching him." "Him?"

"Yeah." Her eyes brightened a little. "You."

"Me?"

"Yep." Jo chuckled a little at his expression. "You were, in a way, one of my first students. After you left, I remembered how much fun it had been to get you caught up. That's why I changed my mind."

She changed her life plan because of him. He didn't know he'd made that much of an impression on her. He felt that twinge of guilt again, okay slightly more than a twinge, at having left and not let himself look back. She'd been one of the best things that had happened to him and he'd walked away. Yet she seemed to have forgiven him. He'd never really understood why she liked him.

"It worked out for the best any way with the girls," Jo continued, pulling him out of his musings. "Made getting a job around school times a little easier than if I'd been a lawyer."

"Girls?" he asked. Seriously, was that thud he heard just someone dropping something in the kitchen or was it his heart, something he usually refused to acknowledge, hitting the floor.

"Two." Jo smiled again. "Not quite old enough yet to terrify their mother by bringing home the bad boy and her catching them in the kitchen with him shirtless on the bench and her standing between his legs." They chuckled at the memory of the first time he had met her mother.

"She never trusted me," Callen recalled.

"Her problem. You never gave me a reason not to trust you," Jo said.

Callen had a feeling from the tone to her words that Jo didn't get on with her mother any better now than she had back then. He decided not to push that topic.

"So, you are married?" he asked. He hadn't noticed any rings but that didn't mean anything. The only way he was going to find out for sure was ask.

"Not anymore," Jo replied. There was a touch of sadness and pain in her voice.

"What happened?" Callen asked gently. She turned her face to him.

"He died three years ago."

"Were you happy with him?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was," she said, the smile returning to her face. "You would have liked him."

Callen looked at her for a moment, wondering where to take this. She'd just admitted her husband had died. It was three years ago. Would he be pushing it if he made a move? He decided to take a chance and jump, admittedly he was assuming that there was no one else who'd come on the scene since her husband died. But he knew that if he walked away again without taking the chance, he'd regret it and he might not get another opportunity. He wouldn't push, just let her know and let her take it where she wanted to, if she wanted to.

"He had you. Might've had a problem," Callen finally said.

Jo tilted her head and looked at him oddly.

"He had what I wanted," Callen reiterated. He saw the understanding blossom in her eyes. The ball was in her court now. He just had to be patient and see what she did with it.

"Didn't know you wanted that," Jo replied quietly, still looking at him in that way she had when she was trying to work him out.

"Didn't tell you," he admitted.

Jo rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something but they were interrupted.

"Still trying to score with my girl? Hope she warms up more for you than she did for me Callen," came a drunk voice.

Callen looked toward the voice to see a very drunk Martin standing next to them. Before he could respond Jo did – which was probably for the best since his response would most likely have caused a scene if the tightening of his fist was anything to go by.

"Haven't been your girl in a very long time Martin." She turned away from Martin, stepped back from the dance and pulled Callen away.

"Jo?" Callen stopped her to him when they were off the dance floor and out of earshot of Martin. "What did he mean?" He dreaded the answer but he needed to know.

"Doesn't matter," Jo said, obviously attempting to dismiss the conversation.

"Jo," he said firmly. "Yes it does."

"Still stubborn. All right. He tried, I wasn't interested. He pushed. We broke up," she summarised quickly.

"You never told me that." Callen had known there had been something she'd been hiding that day at the park, that she wouldn't talk to him about.

"You didn't need to know," Jo told him.

Callen didn't agree with that but he didn't push. "Did he hurt you?" He glanced over at Martin, wondering if he'd remember who hit him considering how drunk he seemed.

"No. You taught me enough things to stop him." Jo brought his attention back to her with a gentle tug on his hand. He was glad that he'd managed to teach her enough by then.

"So why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"What would you have done?" Jo paused and looked at the expression on his face and smiled. "Yeah. You would have gone after him. I didn't want you to do that."

In that brief moment she'd easily read what he would have done. He'd forgotten how well she knew him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because he wasn't worth it," Jo replied matter-of-factly.

"You were," Callen said. Still are, he added silently. She hadn't changed, nor had the way he felt about her. It had surprised him that he still had those strong feelings for her. He thought they would have faded or softened a little with time.

Jo smiled. Obviously he'd said the right thing.

"But I wanted you around," she said. "Not tucked away in some detention centre or worse."

He had to give her that. He had already been pushing his luck, so it was probably true that he might have got into some big trouble at that time. Especially as he cared about her which would have made his control a little iffy at the time.

"You should have told me."

"It doesn't matter now," Jo said.

"So why didn't you ...?" Callen let the question trail off, not entirely sure he had the right to ask or if he wanted to know.

"Because he wasn't the one I wanted," Jo answered.

"Who was?" There was something in her eyes that made Callen ask the question – even if he was slightly terrified at what her answer would be. He just wasn't sure if he was terrified that she might say him or someone else.

"Someone, who until tonight, I didn't think was interested," Jo replied.

Callen reached up and cupped her cheek. The look in her eyes was enough to confirm for him that she did indeed mean him. They had both wanted the other but neither had said anything. Had they both been afraid of the same thing? Of hurting when he left.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

Jo raised her own hand and covered his. She didn't make a move to push him away. "The same reason you didn't tell me," she replied softly. "Because we didn't want to risk what we had, when we knew it was coming to an end soon."

"You still interested?" he asked quietly – just loud enough for her to hear.

"Yes," Jo stated simply. Her gaze steady on his and it was easy for him to tell she was being truthful – even without his training he knew her well enough to know.

The hand that was on her cheek slipped around to the back of her neck and tangled in the hair that was loose there. Callen slowly pulled her in close, giving her time to pull back if she wanted to. She didn't; she stepped forward, closer to him. He continued and kissed her for the first time. It was gentle. The touching of lips, breaths mingling. Jo slipped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him, his other arm slipped around her waist and held her there. His tongue touched her lips and they parted willingly for him. Even as the intensity rose, it stayed gentle, but still, by the end of it, they were both breathless. They looked at each other and neither of them seemed quite sure what to say or do. She was the first one to find her voice.

"Well," Jo cleared her throat, "that was more than expected." She smiled then and he studied her face. He noted the desire, the surprise and the smile in her eyes. Most importantly though was what he couldn't see – regret. And he felt those things himself too.

"A bit," Callen agreed, even if it was an understatement