Kendall was sitting in the lobby at the Palm Woods, and moments after James walked past him, dressed like a weird general or something, he heard his favorite sound in the world as Jo's voice called out to him.
"Sorry! My scene ran late." Jo ran through to join him.
"No problem, the important thing is that we're together now, and I got us his and hers smoothies." Kendall held up two smoothies.
"Great." Jo reached out for the strawberry one, but Kendall pulled it away from her.
"The pink one's mine."
Jo rolled her eyes at him "I really don't understand your problem with blue raspberry." Jo reached for the blue one instead, which Kendall happily handed over.
"Well, A. Strawberries are delicious, and B. Blue raspberries aren't even a real thing and are disgusting."
"You're lucky you're cute." Jo teased him playfully and they each took a refreshing sip.
But then with a sigh, Jo reached down to her pocket to check her phone. "Uggh, they just moved up my next scene. I really have to go. But this means I'm free for lunch." Jo smiled again.
Kendall's mind started turning. "Picnic in the park?"
"It's a date," Jo promised.
"Goodbye kiss?" Kendall asked her.
"For you, I think I have time for that." Jo laughed and they quickly shared a quick peck with one another. "I'll see you later Kendall. Thanks for the smoothie!"
"Bye, Jo!" Kendall watched her leave, and took another sip of his smoothie, ever since he got back from tour and Jo had her new show, they had been having some difficulty finding time between their busy schedules to be together, but Kendall wasn't worried, he wouldn't ever stand in the way of Jo's career, just like she would never do anything to hurt his. This was far from the first time they had to cancel plans last minute, but every time it happened, they always made a makeup plan, and it looked like today was going to be one of those days. Kendall wasn't worried, he'd love to see Jo more, but they could make it work.
A few hours later, Kendall had everything ready for their picnic in the park when his cell phone rang, and he smiled to himself when he saw Jo's name appear on his phone.
"Hey, I'm in Palm Woods Park."
"I'm still at the studio," Jo answered. "The show's doing really great and they want me to do some interviews. I'm sorry."
"But I set up a really girly picnic and everything!" Kendall couldn't help himself from whining a little.
"I'm really sorry. I promise I'll be back as soon as we can and we can spend as much time together as we want. I have to go. Bye, Kendall."
Kendall looked down at his phone. She hung up without even giving him a chance to say goodbye. He was right, it was going to be one of those days indeed, and he could feel his earlier optimism start to fade, this pattern was becoming way too common for his liking. He almost wondered if Griffin was in charge of Colossal Studios just like Rocque Records. It always seemed like Jo had to fulfill all sorts of random demands just like he and the guys did.
And their bad luck just continued, they made it about 10 seconds into their redo date at the pool before Jo had to leave again, this time they didn't even have enough time for a goodbye kiss before Jo had to turn around and walk back to her waiting limo.
Kendall was sitting in the lobby again, waiting for Jo to return, and she eventually did a little over an hour later.
"OK, I'm wrapped for the day, and I'm totally free. Now how about that date?" Jo smiled at him with relieved happiness.
Kendall stood up. "You blew me off at the pool and at the park, and the pool again."
"And I'm sorry." Jo apologized again. "I love that my career is taking off, I just hate how it's making things so difficult between us." And right as she finished, a ringtone went off again.
"Unbelievable, what do you have to go do now?"
"Um, that was your phone," Jo informed him knowingly.
Kendall paused, and indeed, he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, so he fished it out and groaned. "I have to go to the studio."
"Oh really?" Jo crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, my one to your three!"
"It's not keeping score, but Kendall today I know it's been me, but don't forget also been you who's blown me off plenty of times."
"OK, I'm sorry. But I have to go. Goodbye kiss?"
"Of course." They stepped forward to give each other a familiar peck, that both really wished could last longer. Kendall then rode alone in the limo thinking about Jo. Was more than 30 seconds at a time too much to ask for?
But as soon as they got to the studio after Carlos' new girlfriend shoved him to the floor for no reason, Gustavo told him he could go back home. And so Kendall walked into the Palm Woods with a smile on his face. So now both of them should have all the free time in the world to spend together.
And even better, right as he walked past Bitters' desk he ran right into Jo. She looks so beautiful… wait a minute, why is she so dressed up and has her hair and make done all super nice? Kendall's good feelings disappeared quickly.
"You're back?" Jo asked, looking surprised to see him.
"Yeah, Gustavo didn't need me for anything, Carlos' new girlfriend scares me, and…what's with the glamour?"
"You said you were busy at the studio so I told my agent to book another interview!" Jo whined.
"We…I can't keep doing this." Kendall said.
"I know… I don't want to either, but I have to focus on my show and you need to focus on your music."
"And it's only going to get worse, isn't it?" Kendall sighed.
"I…I don't know Kendall, I have to go." Jo marched out the door towards her waiting driver, but she looked back at him one more time.
Kendall sighed, if a couple doesn't have time for a relationship, can there even be a relationship? Kendall didn't want to admit defeat, but as both of their careers continue to grow, he knew things were only going to get worse. It wasn't like before he went on tour, where Jo only had auditions to go to in hopes of a part, while Kendall was working more or less predictable hours with Gustavo, but now, things had just been piling on both their plates more and more. And like today, they had been arguing and running away from each other more than talking to each other. But Kendall focused his resolve, a minute of Jo at a time would always be worth it, he just needed a plan, and thankfully the more he thought about it, he quickly came up with a hopefully awesome idea.
And even better when he called Jo later that night when she was finally done with her interview, she was all for it too.
The next morning around lunchtime they finally had a chance to put their plan into action, and both came prepared. Kendall had a blanket and a boombox in his hands, while Jo was holding onto a picnic basket and a frisbee.
"Hey, there you are." Kendall smiled.
Jo smiled back. "The studio moved up my next scene."
"Gustavo's making us record our new song," Kendall replied back.
"Let's go!" They both cheered. They quickly worked together to unfold the blanket out on the ground, and Kendall turned on the music while Jo pulled out two plates of food.
They both took hurried bites of the sandwiches and mmm'd to each other to communicate how great they tasted and then Jo's driver gave them a reminder that they had thirty seconds left.
So they sat down their food, and each took a turn tossing the frisbee back and forth. Both made very impressive catches and then they sat down again so Kendall could quickly doodle a portrait of Jo with the flower Kendall had brought her. Then they spent their last ten seconds having a not-so-impromptu but still fun dance party.
And of course, they had planned time into their date itinerary for another goodbye kiss. They both sat down on the blanket and slowly leaned in close to one another, pressing their lips together for a total of five seconds even though they both wished it could be longer, but it would do for now.
"This is fun." Jo smiled at him.
"Best one-minute date ever." Kendall agreed.
"I'll see you soon."
"And I can't wait, whether it's only a minute or an hour, it will mean the same to me, as long as I'm with you. But I have to get going too."
They both smiled at each other for one more long moment and then both started running to reach their respective limos, both with matching smiles on their faces, Jo rode along silently, Kendall really was the sweetest guy and he had more than proved he would do anything for her.
When Kendall got in his limo, all the guys congratulated him that his plan seemed to work, at least based on the fact that Kendall literally couldn't stop smiling as he replayed that glorious minute in his head all the way to the studio.
And when they got to the studio, Gustavo had good news for once, not only did he have a new song for them to sing, but inspired by all the big-time romance in the air, it was another love song, and not only were they going to film the music video tomorrow, they were going to need some actresses join them.
After they finished rehearsing, Kendall immediately called Jo, and thankfully she picked up after the second ring.
"Hey, Kendall. I just finished my scene, and now I do have another interview to do in a few hours, but tomorrow night I'm totally free."
"Actually about tomorrow night, Gustavo is going to have us working all evening on our next music video."
"OK, I understand." Jo sighed, "Are you still going to have time for another one-minute date?"
"Well, you see…" Kendall smirked to himself, "The song is called Boyfriend, and the basic plot of the video is all of us taking our dates to a carnival, riding the rides, playing games, and all that fun stuff…and Gustavo says we need to have our girlfriends with us to really sell the story. Are you in?"
"I'd love to be in your music video again. But I'll have to talk to my agent."
"Don't worry, Kelly's already taking care of it."
Jo paused for a moment. "You may be right, my agent just texted me. I can't wait to see you tomorrow."
"Me neither, and by the way, once we're done shooting, we should still have a few hours we can spend before the carnival closes down. So what do you say?"
"Wow, a couple hours? I don't know what we'd do with so much time on our hands." Jo said sarcastically. "It's a date, Kendall. I have to go now, but I'll talk to you later."
"Later Jo. Goodbye."
"Bye, Kendall."
Kendall hung up with a smile on his face. Things were finally looking up, but Kendall also wondered if there was some way to make Gustavo only write love songs so Jo could be in all their videos.
And the next night just as promised, once they were finished shooting the video Gustavo let his dogs loose for the rest of the night so they could enjoy themselves, an opportunity Jo and Kendall were definitely not going to let go to waste.
"So what do you want to do first?" Kendall asked as everyone was splitting off in different directions.
"Hmm." Jo tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment, "Well I would like to go on the Ferris wheel since we were the only ones who didn't before… but I am also a bit hungry…"
"How about we go on the Ferris Wheel first, so then you can look at everything there is to eat and then we can go get it after."
"Cute and smart, I knew there was a reason I keep you around." Jo teased him.
"Then let's get going then." Kendall reached out to take Jo's hand in his and they got in line, thankfully it wasn't too long, and only a few minutes later they were in their seats and headed up into the air.
Kendall stretched his arm out to wrap around Jo's shoulders and she happily leaned into him. "This is nice."
"Yeah, it is." Jo smiled, as she looked out over the carnival and felt the steady rise and fall of Kendall's chest behind her head. "Did you plan this? Because this seems like something you would scheme to make work out this good."
"Nope, this one was all Gustavo's idea. Long, long story but I think Carlos' new girlfriend is an actress hired by Gustavo to break his heart so he could sing the breakup song we were working on, but Carlos was so sweet that she likes him for real now."
"Aww, that's sort of sweet, I guess, other than Gustavo at least."
"Yeah, but it's already the most successful Carlos has ever been with a girl before."
"And look at them they're so adorable together." Jo pointed to the two of them walking below them, walking up to a corn dog vendor below them.
"Yeah, they are…hey wait a minute." Jo and Kendall tried their best to peer closer as the two of them seemed to be talking about something as Carlos held out a corndog to Alyssa, but then just up and walked away from her, and Alyssa watched the back of his head looking confused.
"Kendall what just happened?"
Kendall reached up and slapped his forehead in knowing resignation. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say Carlos just picked corndogs over Alyssa."
Jo sat up to look at him. "You can't be serious! Carlos can't love even corndogs that much!"
"Well, I'm sure we could ask them, but I guarantee I'm right, and look how happy he is." Kendall pointed out the look of ecstasy on Carlos's face as he took a bite.
"Alright, I'm honestly not surprised. Too bad Stephanie had to move out of the Palm Woods after her horror movie finished filming." Jo shook her head in sympathy.
"Yeah, they were good together." Kendall agreed.
"You wouldn't leave me for something stupid like that right? Like if I took your pink smoothies that you love so much and made you drink the blue ones?"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Kendall glanced away for a moment, but then leaned closer to kiss Jo's cheek. "You have nothing to worry about, I would drink a blue raspberry smoothie every single day even if I only got to see you for a minute, and it would be worth it."
"I know, and I would do the same for you." Jo kissed his cheek in return.
"So, do you see any food stands you want to grab a bite to eat at?" Kendall asked.
Jo glanced out over the whole carnival in front of them. "Ooh look over there." Jo pointed at a stand near the middle of the carnival. "Do you like churros?"
"Mmm, sounds delicious. That can be our next stop." Kendall promised.
They continued riding the Ferris wheel for a few more minutes, enjoying all the time they had to just be together, but by no means were they taking it for granted, as the past few days had shown them, they needed to work together to get moments like this within their busy Hollywood schedules.
Once their ride was over. Kendall led Jo in a B-line straight to the churros and bought one for each of them. Both of them melted a little on the inside from the taste of the sweet and sugary treats.
"Well, that was delicious. You have great taste."
Jo smirked at him. "Was it better than a corn dog?"
Kendall smirked right back and whispered in her ear. "Don't tell Carlos I said this, but definitely. Corn dogs are great, but they are not mankind's greatest culinary achievement. And I would never choose corn dogs over a girl. Least of all you."
"Your secret's safe with me." Jo promised, "…If you take me on the tunnel of love again."
"You want to go again? We already went for the video."
"Exactly. For the video, where drove in and drove right out since Gustavo let Camille have all the fun with Logan instead of us." She reminded him.
"Oh, you want to have some fun huh?" Kendall asked with an excited grin on his face. "I'm sure that can be arranged."
They both quickly made their way to the line for the tunnel of love, Kendall couldn't help but wrap his arm over her shoulders once more as they waited for the small line of couples in front of them to steadily shrink.
But they didn't need to wait too long until they were once again seated in the yellow car. Kendall stepped on the gas to try to speed them up, but the car started moving forward at a slower speed as it moved forward on the track.
"You think I would have remembered that wouldn't actually work." Kendall shrugged his shoulders and sat back in his seat.
"I'd believe it because I'm pretty sure I knew what your plan would have been if it did."
"Oh really? Explain my plan to me then." Kendall challenged her.
"Simple, you would have driven in as fast as possible and then once we were inside you would have parked it and wouldn't move until we absolutely had to."
"Interesting idea, and what would you have done if I had tried to get away with that?" Kendall asked with a knowing twinkle in his eye.
"I would have been all for it." Jo reached out and wrapped her arms around Kendall's neck, "I will always want to spend as much time with you as I possibly can."
"And I will never take you for granted for a single minute we spend together," Kendall promised right before they entered the tunnel and were surrounded by darkness. There was just enough light inside to light the space with a soft red glow, with some steady romantic music playing in the background.
"Now then," Kendall took his hands off the wheel, letting their car drive itself along, and reached out to place one hand on Jo's waist, and the other gently caressing her cheek. "What else do you think I have planned?
"This." Jo leaned closer, raising one hand to gently cup Kendall's cheek as well, and connected their lips together until both could feel the familiar spark that ran through them every time they kissed.
Things started off slow, sweet, and gentle at first, but after a minute or so, they separated for breath for a moment, and once they returned to another things quickly began to heat up. Both were pressing against one another with more force, more emotion, and more passion.
Since Kendall had gotten back from his tour, they hadn't had very many opportunities for guaranteed privacy, so this was the first time they had a chance to really show how much they cared about each other through their actions and not just their words, and both were loving this feeling they were sharing between one another.
After a minute or so, Kendall decided to take a chance, he opened his mouth slightly and lightly brushed the edge of Jo's lips with his tongue. He felt a tingle of happiness as the taste of Jo's strawberry lip gloss and some sugar left over from her churro.
After only a moment, Jo parted her lips and allowed him access, and at the same pulled herself closer so now she was more or less sitting in Kendall's lap as he slowly explored her mouth and their tongues started dancing together.
They kept pulling each other closer and closer, and neither wanted to stop the feelings of happiness and romance flowing between them. And when they parted for breath again, it was then Jo's turn to explore Kendall's mouth, which he had absolutely no problems with.
They didn't let up until Jo noticed the light at the end of the tunnel coming up fast. So she parted from Kendall and tried to scoot back to her seat, but Kendall reached out and pulled her back into his lap.
"You're not getting away from me that easy." Kendall grinned at her.
"You don't have to worry about that," Jo promised with a giggle. She ran a few fingers through her hair to make sure she looked mostly presentable to anyone watching outside.
"Don't worry, you look great, and you were right. This ride is a lot of fun when you ride it properly."
"Oh yeah, and I think there's something else we need to make time for now. Because I definitely want to do that again when we get the chance." Jo smiled and whispered in his ear.
"You'll hear no complaints from me," Kendall whispered back as they finally drove through the tunnel's exit and back to the ride entrance. Once again, even a minute will be worth it.
"I think we'll work something out, together," Jo promised him.
They got out of their car, and walked around the carnival some more, looking for something to do, as much as they had loved going on the Scrambler ride, after all the takes they had to do for the video, both of them felt like they had ridden it more than enough for one night. So instead they started walking through all the booths that held plenty of games and countless stuffed animals for them to try to win.
"So Jo, see anything you want? I'll win it for you." Kendall offered.
"Oh you will, will you?" Jo teased him with a smirk. "Who says I want a stuffed animal? Maybe you should tell me which one you want and I'll win it for you."
"Alright fine, I want… ooh that big green dinosaur!" Kendall pointed out to a green T-rex that was about two feet tall.
"OK then, challenge accepted." Jo nodded confidently.
"Aren't you going to tell me what you want?"
"Be patient, I'm still thinking. I'll win your dinosaur in a few minutes and then you can find something for me."
They walked closer to the game, and it was the milk bottle game. Jo would get three chances to knock over the three bottles to win her prize.
"Piece of cake," Jo promised confidently. She was given her baseballs and threw the first one straight and true, knocking over the top bottle. And then just as quickly and smoothly without even breaking a sweat or pausing for breath, she let her next two balls fly knocking down the two bottles that remained.
"Winner!" The attendant congratulated her and upon Jo's request handed over the big green dinosaur.
"OK, remind me to never play baseball with you, unless I get to be on your team." Kendall joked.
"Thanks, I played all the time during the summers in North Carolina." Jo smiled at him.
"So, can I have my prize?"
"Nope." Jo grinned at him, "If you want him, first you have to win me…that adorable teddy bear." Jo pointed to another game near the end of the midway. "And then we can trade."
"Sure thing. What game is it anyway?" Kendall and Jo walked over and Kendall couldn't help laughing. "Ooh, a test your strength game? Is this a test for me? And should I be insulted or flattered?"
"Well, with all your experience playing hockey, and being my sparring partner I know you've got some muscles under your T-shirt." Jo reached out an squeezed his arm playfully. "I have every confidence you'll win just as easily as I did. Plus I want that bear, and you want this guy right here." Jo waved the dinosaur in front of her. "So that should give you even more motivation to succeed. No bear, no dino."
"When you put it like that, I have to do it now. Good luck kiss?"
"I suppose." Jo giggled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "if you need even more incentive, you may get something else after you ring that bell."
"Count on it," Kendall promised. He walked over to the game, picked up the hammer, and focused on the target. He then lifted the hammer over his head and swung it down with just as much force as if he was trying to shoot a goal on the ice, and seconds later, he was rewarded with a loud ring above his head.
"Winner!" The game attendant congratulated him and asked him what prize he wanted. Kendall glanced back at Jo for a moment and she pointed at the bear once more. And so Kendall followed her lead and pointed at the bear as well.
After the bear was handed over Kendall walked back over to Jo who wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "See I knew you could do it."
"I know, I was just worried it would be rigged and I'd disappoint you or something."
"You could never disappoint me. But are you ready to trade?"
"More than ready." They each took a step away from each other, and both slowly held out their prize in one hand and reached out to grip the other prize with their other hand, both moving super slowly, with all the seriousness of a hostage exchange.
"On the count of three?" Kendall asked.
"One," Jo responded.
"Two," Kendall said.
"Three!" They both said at the same time and each quickly let go of one prize and tightly gripped the other, pulling them each to their own chests in a hug, and after both made it to safety. They then met one another's eyes and burst into laughter.
"Thank you, Kendall, he's so cute."
"It was my pleasure Jo, so what's his name?"
"Hmm." Jo thought it over for a minute and then smiled. "I'm going to go with Koda."
"Aww, I love that movie."
"So what's your Dino's name?"
"Well, there's only one obviously perfect choice… Meet Chomper!"
"Aww, I love those movies too." Jo smiled.
"What do you say we have a movie night tomorrow, so our new friends can see their namesakes?"
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea." Jo beamed at him. "And thankfully Sundays are my only guaranteed off day."
"Same for me. And totally honest, that's only because of Kelly." Kendall joked.
"Hey, guys!" Camille waved at them as she, Logan, Carlos, James, and Alyssa walked up to them. "Have you had enough together time tonight? We're all ready to head back to the Palm Woods for the night."
"Oh we've had plenty of time together tonight, and it's been the best!" Kendall declared loudly. "But sure, we're ready to head home."
So they all walked out to the limo waiting for them outside the carnival's entrance, and everyone had a stuffed animal of some sort in their hands. Except for Carlos, who grabbed two more corn dogs on the way out.
"This was a lot of fun tonight Kendall," Jo whispered in his ear. "I'm so happy we finally got a chance to spend some real time together. Even though it will never be enough."
"No, it won't." Kendall agreed, "But any time we do get is also more than enough to keep us better together."