"Nice locker," Flynn remarked, seeing the school spirit memorabilia on John's locker.
"Yeah…" John trailed off.
"So why was Mom so happy this morning?" Flynn asked, as he put his stuff up into his locker. Haley and Victoria were already walking down the hall, gossiping or whatever girls did these days. John leaned up against his locker, looking over at his younger brother.
"Jude's coming home today and he's bring his girlfriend. Dad's leaving school early to go pick Jude up at the airport, so you know Mom will freak out when she meets this girl. I almost feel bad for her," John chuckled.
"Yeah. I really hope we like her. If not, this is going to be one awkward Winter break seeing as she's staying with us. I wonder what's going to happen when we all go away. The house really hasn't been quiet ever since Jude was born. That's going to be… an adjustment," Flynn said.
"Yeah, guess so," John replied.
"Alright, dude. I'm heading off to English. See you later," Flynn said, closing his locker and heading in the opposite direction. John turned around, and saw that his locker was decked out with school spirit and the school colors. There was even a sign that said: John, you rock. Get 'em at tonight's game.
"You like it?" John heard a voice ask. He turned around, surprised to see Jamie standing behind him, her arms crossed over his chest.
"Uh… yeah," John stammered.
"The whole cheerleading team got our pick of basketball players to decorate lockers… I chose you," Jamie smiled, flirtatiously.
"I see that," John stated.
"Look, I know we haven't really spoken since the beginning of school after… you know, but it's totally water under the bridge. Don't even worry about. It's just a friend doing something for a friend. Tonight's game is a big one and you know how the whole squad has our traditions," Jamie started.
"Yeah. Well uh, thanks. It looks really great," John said.
"Thanks," Jamie smiled. John knew all about their traditions. The cheerleaders picked a guy on the basketball or football team – whatever season it was and John happened to play both – and decorated their lockers for the season. His hadn't been decorated as much ever since he stopped seeing Jamie, but now this? It seemed a little too suspicious. Decorating a guy's locker and owning up to it was a social cue that the girl had staked the guy out. It was like marking their territory.
"I'll uh, see you around, okay?" John asked, attempting to distance himself from her.
"Yeah. See you at tonight's game, number 15," she winked.
"Uh huh," John nodded, wearily, before walking away. John saw Renee heading towards him in the hallway. "Hey, you."
"Hey," Renee smiled.
"Why don't I walk you to class?" John asked, putting his arm around her and attempting to steer her in the opposite direction so she wouldn't see his locker.
"Wh-, John! I've got to get my stuff out of my locker," Renee protested.
"Well, I, uh, I'll get it for you!" he exclaimed, a light bulb going off in his head. "You, you stay here. I will get your stuff for you."
"John what is going on?" Renee asked, suspiciously.
He sighed, "Nothing. Nothing… just uh… yeah, let's get your stuff out of your locker. I'll walk you to class," he replied in defeat. She shot him a funny glance before they went over towards her locker. John leaned up against his, attempting to hide the decorations on the exterior of his locker.
"Is this what you didn't want me to see?" Renee asked.
"What?" John asked back, playing dumb.
"The decorations, John. Unless, you're head is bleeding green and yellow confetti," Renee answered.
John sighed, "Yeah…"
"Who was it?" Renee asked, quietly.
"Jamie," John answered.
"What?" Renee exclaimed.
"See, that's why I didn't want you to see? I knew you'd freak out but it's not a big deal, okay? It doesn't, she doesn't mean anything to me. You know that. You… you know how I feel about you," John said.
"Yeah, but she… she's Jamie," Renee said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked.
"You and I both know this whole decorating a guy's locker is a 'mark your territory' kind of thing. I-," Renee started.
"You know I wouldn't do that to you, right?" John asked, interrupting her.
"Yeah," Renee replied. She almost had to say it to convince herself. She and John both knew she wasn't totally convinced, with good reason. "Sorry, let's just put this whole thing behind us for now, okay? We should get to class anyways. Don't want to be late."
"Right," John mumbled. For now. She had said 'for now', which means it was a topic that would most likely come up later. He prayed to God that Jamie didn't fuck this up for him. He had been able to be in a relationship since September and it had been the first real relationship he had actually ever had. If this was what relationships were like, he liked it. He loved being with Renee. He knew he loved her; he just wasn't ready to say it yet.
"Anyone home?" Meredith called out.
"Mom!" she heard someone exclaim. She immediately saw Jude come into the hallway.
"Oh my God," she said, a huge smile spreading across her face as she went to hug him
"It's good to see you too, Mom," Jude replied.
"How was your trip? Where is she? I can't wait to meet her," Meredith asked, eagerly.
"She's in the kitchen. We actually got home a couple of minutes ago and started making a late lunch," Jude answered.
"Oh, should I leave you two alone then?" Meredith asked.
"No, no! She's been dying to meet you too and Dad's already in there with her so you have nothing to worry about. That and well, I think we all know that you wouldn't be able to leave us alone," Jude teased.
"I would- yeah, you're right. I wouldn't be able to," Meredith admitted.
Jude chuckled, "Come on."
"Has Mom attacked her yet?" John asked, coming into the house, Victoria and Flynn following close behind.
"No. Shush, you," Meredith hissed. The four them headed into the kitchen where Dean and Jude's girlfriend were.
"So, I figured it was about time you all met my girlfriend," Jude announced as they got into the kitchen. She had long, black hair that felt into big, perfect ringlets. She
John took one good look at her before saying, "Uh… Does your girlfriend know about the hot chick?"
"Very funny," Jude replied sarcastically.
"What? Just asking," John shrugged.
"Everyone this is Anna. Anna, this is… everyone," Jude introduced. They all chuckled. "Kidding. This is John, and the twins are Flynn and Victoria. And that's my mom and… you already know my dad."
"Gotcha. It's nice to finally meet you all. I've heard so much about you," Anna said.
"Good things, we hope," Meredith replied.
"Yes, definitely good things," Anna answered.
"Can I get you anything?" Meredith asked.
"Nope. I'm fine. How about you, babe?" Anna asked Jude.
"I'm fine. I'm actually going to go unpack some of our stuff," Jude replied.
"You mind if I stay?" Anna asked.
"Not at all. Hey, family, be good, okay? I want her to come back, not running for the hills," Jude joked.
"Yeah, yeah, we got it," John mumbled.
"Hey, mind if I come with?" Victoria asked.
"No," Jude shrugged.
"Okay," Victoria said, following her older brother up the stairs. Once she knew they were out of earshot, she began to talk "When were you going to tell me?"
"Surprise?" Jude offered up.
"No, don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you. A little warning would've been nice, though. You don't know how hard it was to resist doing a happy dance in the kitchen back there. Oh my God, Jude. She's gorgeous!" Victoria squealed.
"Yeah, she is," Jude smirked.
"Okay tell me everything. I want to know," Victoria said.
"Like what?" Jude asked back, clueless.
"Like, everything, dumbass. The last time we talked about her, you had had the world's most awkward phone call in the world. How'd it get from that to coming home on break to meet the family and calling each other 'babe', and what not," Victoria replied.
Jude chuckled, "Uh, well, I got back to school and we kinda talked about the awkward phone call…"
~Flashback~
"Hey," Anna said, approaching him after their first class of the day that they had together.
"Hey," Jude said, looking around.
"Looking for someone?" Anna asked.
"What? No," Jude answered, antsy.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Fine," Jude replied. "So how was your break, spending time with your grandparents and all that?"
"It was fine," Anna answered.
"Just fine?" Jude asked.
"Just fine," she replied, laughing a little. "By the way, thanks for calling. It meant a lot to me, Jude."
"Oh, wh- that? It was no problem," Jude shrugged.
"I hope you had a good time with your family," she said.
"You know, maybe over break you could join us," Jude blurted out. He covered his mouth right afterwards in shock that he had actually said that. "I-…" He meant to cover up but when he really thought about it, he wanted her to come with him to meet his family over winter break. What did that even mean for them?
"You're serious?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jude replied.
A small smile began to form on her lips, turning into an even bigger smile, "Yeah, okay. If that's alright with your parents, of course."
"I'm sure it will be. I'll ask, but they love meeting new people so I don't think it'll be a problem at all," Jude answered.
"Okay," Anna replied, still in shock that Jude had even asked her that.
~End Flashback~
"Wow, look at you!" Victoria said.
"Yeah," Jude chuckled.
"So how'd you ask her out?"
"Ah… that… Later that night she kind of asked me about it – you know, the fact that I asked her to come home with me. Turns out I wasn't the only one that thought about the implications of bringing her home with me. I was hanging out at the coffee shop she worked at…" Jude said.
~Flashback~
"Late night?" Anna asked. It was about closing time and Jude was still there, sitting in the chair he usually picked, reading a book.
"Yeah. My final tomorrow is all studied for and uh, figured I'd pick up some fine literature," Jude replied.
Anna laughed, "Hey, can we talk?"
"Yeah, about what?" Jude asked, playing dumb.
"What you asked me about earlier today… Look, I don't think it's such a good idea anymore," Anna replied.
"What?" Jude asked, disappointedly.
"Yeah. I'm-, I'm just going to be honest with you, Jude. I… I still… look, I know I said that when we talked at the beginning of the year, we should just get closure but, being with you here… hasn't exactly been closure. I still have feelings for you, and it's okay if you don't. I get it, but I think I needed to get this off my chest. I just feel like if I come home with you for break than we'd be sending the wrong message to your parents and-." Anna began, but was interrupted when Jude leaned over and kissed her. "Jude?"
"Yeah?" Jude asked back, a smile on his face.
"What?" Anna asked.
"Why wouldn't I feel the same?" Jude asked back.
"I-," Anna started. Instead of answering, she just leaned in again, kissing him back. "Yeah, okay. Let's-, I'll come home with you for break."
"Okay," Jude smiled.
~End Flashback~
"Aw, Jude! Good. It's about damn time," Victoria said.
Jude laughed, "Thanks, but enough about me. So how's the boyfriend? Dad had a total freak out yet?"
"Oh, yes. Dad totally flipped out on me, but we're working on it," Victoria replied.
"Good," Jude said, ruffling her hair. She pushed his hand away, laughing. "Help me out with this?"
"Sure," Victoria answered.
That night was the big basketball game and almost the whole school had showed up. Certainly all of the Walsh/Winchester clan was there. It was no halftime and Renee had gone to the bathroom while her family remained on the bleachers. The two basketball teams were half pep talks or whatever they did…
Renee was washing her hands, about to head back into the gym, when someone stood at the sink right next to her.
"Renee Walsh. Daughter of a New York socialite and fashion designer," Jamie said, as she glanced over at Renee once.
"Yep. That's me," Renee replied uncomfortably.
"Hm. I guess John didn't do so badly for himself after all," Jamie said, a smirk on her face. Renee wanted to punch the daylights out of her and wipe that smirk off of her face right then and there but she knew she couldn't.
"And you're… the girl that decorated his locker today," Renee said.
"Damn straight," Jamie replied, before strutting right by her. Renee watched as Jamie left. She had a feeling that this was not a good sign. She dried her hands on a paper towel before leaving the bathroom. She was walking back towards the bleachers when someone ambushed her. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey, you," the voice said.
Renee practically jumped, "Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me, John."
"Sorry, babe," John smiled, kissing her cheek. She turned around to look at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jamie was watching them. She'd make this interesting.
"So guess who I just talked to?" Renee asked.
"Who?" John asked back.
"Jamie," Renee replied.
"Oh, no. What'd she say to you?" John asked, beginning to break away, scanning the crowd for Jamie.
"No, John, stop! It's okay. Look, I just wanted to tell you that about today… look, I trust you. It's her I don't trust. And yes, I do know how you feel about me, John. I'm sorry for being weird earlier today," Renee replied.
"I get it. She's… abrasive," John said.
"More or less," Renee said back, sarcastically.
John chuckled, "Well, it's good to know you trust me."
"I do," Renee confirmed.
"Good. Hey, I've got to get back. Kiss for good luck?" John asked.
"Two, in fact," Renee said, kissing him twice. A wide grin spread across John's face.
"Bye," he said.
"Bye," Renee said back, before returning to the bleachers. If she had anything to do with it, Jamie wasn't going to get in the way. "Hey." Renee sat down next to Greer. "How's he doing?"
"He's good. He doesn't have much playing time left though," Greer answered, talking about Cole. Cole and John were both on the team.
"Ah, neither does John. They played our boys a lot in the first half of the game, huh?" Renee asked back.
"Yeah. I hope Jamie's not giving you any trouble. I saw the way she was looking at you and John," Greer replied.
"Yeah, but it's nothing I can't handle," Renee said, glancing over at Jamie.
Greer nodded slowly, "Hey, if there's anything I can do to help…"
"Thanks, I may actually take you up on that if she tries anything," Renee replied.