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Love is Strong	By : harry102 Category: +M through R > New Adventures of Jonny Quest, The Views: 8124 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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When they got home, it took almost an hour to get the tree in the house and set up the way Jessie wanted, but Jonny had to admit that it looked pretty good once they were done.

“Do you think the others would get mad if we started decorating without them?” she asked. “It might be nice to have it all set up with the lights on when they get home tomorrow night,” she suggested.

“I don’t think they’d mind at all,” he said. “Let’s do it.” It was another distraction for him, and a way to keep her smiling, so it was perfect. “I’ll start grabbing all the decorations, we might as well do the whole house,” he said, as he made his way towards the stairs so he could get up to the attic.

“I’ll get the music,” she screamed excitedly, and stormed past him on the stairs about two seconds later. He couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.

It took about thirty trips between the two of them to get all of the decorations out of the attic, but time flew once they started setting everything up. Surprisingly enough, Jonny only got scolded twice for the unthinkable crime of putting a decoration in the wrong spot under the Nazi’s reign. It was almost eleven o’clock before they even got to the tree, and that was a project and a half on its own.

“It’s so beautiful,” Jessie said smiling, as Jonny put the star on top about an hour later.

“Well you got great taste, Ace. It does look pretty amazing,” he admired as he sat down on the couch to look at it with her. ‘Deck the Halls’ was playing in the background.

They enjoyed the atmosphere that they had created for a few moments before Jessie turned to him with a grin.

“So,” she started, and rubbed her hands together.

“So,” he countered, turning to her, as well.

“What’s this Christmas present you got me, huh?” she asked playfully.

Jonny felt his face fall, and couldn’t hide it. He had totally forgotten about that with everything else that’s been going on, and now she’s caught him completely off guard.

“It’s only December 19th,” he tried to recover. “Why would I tell you about it now?” he asked.

“Whatever,” she started. “I saw that face. You got nothing,” she laughed. “Why do you always wait until the last second? You say you’re gonna do it sooner every year, but every year you end up in the mall, going crazy, two days before Christmas. And you drive me insane right along with you,” she accused.

“Hey, nobody makes you come,” he defended.

“Oh yeah right, like you would ever let me get away with that,” she argued right back.

“I’m just damn charming,” he told her. “It’s not my fault that you can’t say no to me,” he grinned.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Jonny. I’ll…”

“And I did get you something by the way,” he interrupted before she could get all fired up.

“Ok,” she said disbelievingly.

“You want it now,” he said, before he could chicken out.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I’ll just sit here and brace myself,” she finished, still not believing that he had something real. If anything, she thought he was gonna give her something stupid right now, like a Wet Willy. In any case, she was positive that he’d be giving her something that’d require bracing. So she was a little surprised when he got to his feet.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Oh God,” he heard her voice carry up the stairs behind him.

Now he had a huge decision to make. He could take a chance, or he could take the out. He knew she wasn’t really expecting something real tonight. He could easily get around this again. Once he reached his room, he closed the door behind him and leaned against it with a sigh.

“Oh god, what should I do?” he asked himself.

Without even thinking about it, he had made his way over to the side drawer, pulled out that velvet box for the thousandth time, and stared at it. Then he opened the box and the locket to see the pictures inside. The one of his mother and father at Disneyland that he’s stared at for hours, and the one he’d put in a few days ago. It was his favorite picture of him and Jessie, which he took great care to digitally reduce to fit in the locket. It was of the two of them from three Christmases ago. They were in their pajamas in front of the fireplace because they had just finished opening their presents. Jessie was behind him with her arms wrapped around his neck and her check against his. They both had huge grins on their faces. Jonny remembers that moment as if it were yesterday because this was the first picture they’d taken together after he had realized he was in love with her. It was perfect.

Staring at it again, he felt a sudden wave of determination flow through him. He’s waited three years. Hell, he’s waited twelve years, and he can’t wait any loner. He needs to know how she feels either way. If nothing else, Jade showing up has proven to him yet again that life is completely unpredictable, and it’s stupid to waste time just because you’re scared. Besides, if she doesn’t feel the same way, then he really needs to work on getting over it because that won’t be easy in any sense of the word.

With a very deep breath, he began to slowly make his way back downstairs. Even though he’s lived this moment, and this conversation, countless times in his mind, and even though he’s imagined every possible outcome, he still has no idea what he’s gonna say to her.

‘I guess I’m about to find out if winging it is a good idea,’ he suddenly realized. ‘Just don’t chicken out this time no matter what,’ he tried to convince himself, as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

‘Holy shit,’ was the last thought that went through his mind when he entered the living room and saw her.

“What do you have behind your back,” she laughed. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

‘I don’t think you’re gonna hurt me physically,’ he thought, as he sat down next to her again. At least, he hoped that he didn’t have to worry about that too. He was careful to slip the box between the couch cushions behind him so that she wouldn’t be able to see anything.

“You look like you’re about to puke, J. What’s going on?” she asked.

“I’m fine…I just…Ok,” he breathed. “I know that we joke around a lot, but I really do have something for you, and um…,” but then he stopped and let out a frustrated sigh. Winging it, he decided, was definitely not the correct approach, but he doesn’t think he can convincingly talk himself out of this now either.

Meanwhile, Jessie’s voice is caught in her throat and her heart is pounding in her ears. Just like it always does when she thinks he might finally make a move. He’s looking at everything in the room right except her, and he keeps opening his mouth to no avail. She can tell he’s nervous about something.

‘Maybe I should just go for it,’ she thought. ‘Just kiss him and see what reaction I get. I can always say I was just kidding if it doesn’t work out the way I want,’ she reasoned with herself, but decided against it as always. She couldn’t put her heart out there unless she was absolutely sure he wanted it.

Jonny, on the other hand, was trying to give himself a pep talk, grateful that she was giving him a moment without asking what was wrong. ‘Just tell her the truth,’ he told himself. ‘And then see where it goes from there.’

“Ok,” he started again. “So, I got an interesting package a few months ago for my birthday. Uh…It was from my mom,” he said.

“What?” she asked, now at full attention.

“Yeah, I was surprised too,” he said slowly, trying pretty unsuccessfully not to think about his mother too much.

“What was it?” she asked, a little shocked that he hadn’t mentioned this before. “Was there a letter or anything explaining?”

“There was a letter,” he began. “She wrote it pretty much right after I was born I think. I guess she just wanted to make sure I knew some things in case she wouldn’t be here to tell me. It was a pretty good idea actually. I mean, sometimes having it makes me sad because I think of everything I’ve missed out on, but mostly I see it as an amazing gift. It’s pretty ridiculous…,” he started to say, but then let out a long breath, looked down, and swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

“What’s ridiculous,” she asked softy, lifting his head up with her hand so he was looking at her again.

He smiled at her a little before continuing. He really had no idea where his mind was at the moment, but it certainly wasn’t attached to his mouth because he hadn’t intended to tell her all this. It was too late to stop now though.

“It’s ridiculous,” he began again. “It’s ridiculous that I learned more about my mom from a single piece of paper than I have from anything else in the last twelve years,” he stopped, but then started back up again before she could say a word.

“It’s ridiculous that I can’t talk about her, or ask questions about her,” he continued. “Sometimes it feels like she never even existed at all. Like it was an entirely different lifetime when I still had her,” he finished so sadly that it broke Jessie’s heart.

“I didn’t think you wanted to talk about it,” she said softly, grabbing both of his hands.

“I didn’t and I don’t,” he said almost angrily, but then took it down a notch. “Maybe getting the letter made me feel guilty for that. It’s confusing. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel”

The truth is that he didn’t know how to talk about her for the first few years. It was still too raw for his father and grandfather. After that, he just didn’t want to. Not because he didn’t care, but because it was just less painful if he didn’t think about her. When Jade showed up the first time, he felt really guilty that he’d tried to forget about her for so many years. Then, when he lost her the second time, he doubled his efforts to never think, or talk, about her because it was even more painful for him at that point. He’s now back to major guilt again, but is steadfastly trying to convince himself that Jade is wrong so that he won’t have to start this whole process over again. However, he can’t ignore that tiny little voice shouting ‘just maybe’ in the back of his head. That little voice is driving him crazy.

“You’re allowed to feel however you want,” she interrupted his thoughts. “She was your mother.”

‘Was…is…was…is, which one is it?’ Jonny couldn’t help but think, as he took a few more steadying breaths.

“Do you wanna tell me what the letter said?” she asked. She couldn’t help herself. She’s always wanted Jonny to open up to her about this. It’s the final wall to break down so that she can truly see all of him. Plus, Jessie’s always been fascinated by his mother, and the unbelievable devotion she inspires in her son and Dr. Quest to this day. She’s still so precious to them that they can barely mention her name without looking as if they’d just gone ten rounds.

“It’s more how it was written than what was actually written,” he started slowly. “She didn’t really say that much. It’s only a page long. She said that the day I was born was the happiest of her life,” and he smiled at that.

“I’m sure it was,” she responded sweetly, brushing the back of her hand against his cheek for a moment, and then taking his hand again.

“She mostly talked about what she shared with my dad though. I mean it’s clear to me that what they had must have been pretty damn amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad even look at another woman, and I don’t doubt for a second that he loves her as much today as he always did,” Jonny said.

“I don’t doubt that either,” Jessie confirmed.

“Reading what my mother wrote though,” he continued, but then stopped for a moment to find the right words. “It made it so palpable for me, you know. I can feel how much she loved him…how much she loved us just from reading it. That’s why I said it’s more about how it was written. I’ve read it so many times that I have it memorized,” he laughed a little. “It makes her feel real to me,” and then he stopped again to try and figure out where he was going with this.

As much as Jessie wanted to say something, she didn’t want to interrupt him. So she just sat there and continued to hold his hands and rub her thumbs across his palms, while waiting for him to start talking again.

“I hate that you’re so far away,” he said quietly, without looking at her. “And I hate even more how far away you feel sometimes, especially when we’re fighting. I realize that we’re both growing up and changing, but I don’t think that means we have to grow apart. I don’t want us to,” he admitted.

“Neither do I,” she said quickly, glad to hear that he didn’t want that either, and wanting to make sure he knew that she felt the same way.

“I’d actually been thinking about that before the letter even came,” he said. “I couldn’t help it the whole summer before you left. I didn’t want things to change. But, I mean, a change can be really good sometimes, right?” he ventured.

“Definitely,” she agreed, hoping he’d get to his point sooner rather than later.

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I do realize that I’m making no sense right now.”

“Tell me what’s going on,” she said. “It’s just me.”

“You’re not just anything,” he said immediately, getting caught in her eyes for a moment, and then carried on in an unwavering voice. “Above all else, I think my parents were best friends. The bond between them that my mom talked about, she said that she hoped I was lucky enough to share that with someone someday. I think…I mean, I know that I share that with you, but I also know that our schedules are gonna be pretty crazy for the next couple of years. We’re not gonna get to see each other as much, and we’ll be meeting a lot of new people.”

Jessie liked how he had started this, but wasn’t sure if she liked where it was going.

She couldn’t think of anything to say to save her life though.

“Before you left for school a few months ago,” he continued. “I wanted to give you something or, at least, say something real that would let you know how important you are to me, but I obviously never found the right time. Like I said before, I know we joke around a lot, but I want you to know that I absolutely cherish that, and everything else about our relationship. If anything, not seeing you for so long has only made that feeling grow,” he finished, feeling like telling the truth may be getting him somewhere finally.

Jessie, for her part, squeezed his hands and moved a little closer to him on the couch so that her knee was touching his. They both had one leg on the floor and the other bent Indian style in front of them.

“No matter what happens in this world,” he said, looking her right in the eye with confidence. “No matter what happens in our lives. I always wanna be able to call you my best friend,” he said sincerely. “My mom told me that on their wedding day my dad snuck in to see her before everything started because he wanted to give her something. A tangible expression of his commitment to her in addition to the traditional wedding ring. You know that I don’t really believe in good luck charms or anything, but I believe in this because their connection is still so strong even though she’s more than just far away,” he said, and then let go of her hands and began to extract the box out from under the couch cushion.

Jessie thought that her heart might explode when she saw the box he was about to give her. Jonny, on the other hand, couldn’t believe that this moment had finally come. He hadn’t exactly gotten the words ‘I love you’ out, but thinks that he conveyed how much she means to him, which was almost as good.

“If nothing else,” he said while fumbling around with the box. “This is so special to me because it was my mom’s,” he breathed. “I want you to have it,” he told her, as he handed it over with shaking hands.

The hands accepting it were just as shaky. Jessie couldn’t even begin to explain how much this gift already meant to her and she hadn’t even opened the box yet. She wanted to more than anything, but it was like she was frozen in time. She could only stare at it.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked, his confidence quickly fading.

“Huh….yeah,” she said in one breath, brought out of her daze by his question, and then she opened it slowly.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered softly, and couldn’t take her eyes off of it, but then looked up at him suddenly. “Why are you giving this to me?” she asked just as quietly, still in too much disbelief to talk properly.

“I thought that I told you,” he said a little confused, but then tried to explain it a little better. “For a while, I’ve wanted to give you something to show how much I care about and appreciate you, but I didn’t know what to get.”

“You could have just told me,” she interrupted, finding her voice again.

“Yeah,” he laughed, thinking about how many times he’s tried to tell her. “That’s a lot easier said than done. Anyways, I couldn’t get just anything, and then my mom’s package showed up, and I thought it was perfect. I thought that when you were away it might be nice to have. I wanted you to have something special that you could look at and know that no matter what there’s I guy out there that really cares about you and always will,” he finished a little nervously, and then quickly added, “Open it.”

“It’s a locket?” she asked with a smile, and he just nodded, but then interrupted when she started to open it

“Wait and put it on first. That’s how you’re supposed to look at it anyway,” he said. “I mean, if you wanna wear. Don’t just to make me happy or anything. You know…”

“Shut up, and help me put this on,” she smiled, and turned around so he could help her. Once he couldn’t see her face, she closed her eyes, bit her lip, and grinned. Her heart had never beaten so fast as the moment when that necklace touched her chest, and her hands were shaking again as she turn back towards him and began to open it.

“Jonny, Oh my god,” but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was the most amazing thing she’s ever been given. “Thank you, and I will cherish this forever,” she whispered, as tears silently fell down her face.

When she went to hug him, she accidentally knocked over both their glasses of soda from the coffee table, but they ignored it.

“Thank you,” she whispered again into his ear, and held him closer. “I love it so much.”

When they finally pulled back, they leaned their elbows and heads on the back of the couch and just smiled at each other. Jonny took his other hand and wiped the remaining tears from her face, finding it a little hard to concentrate with her sitting so close. He hoped she didn’t catch him staring at her lips.

She didn’t notice because she was too busy staring at his. “You know,” he started with his normal grin. “Any two other people in our position right now would have already…,” but she didn’t let him finish.

Convinced that she already knew what he was gonna say, she decided to take action and closed in softly on those lips. Jonny was beyond surprised. Her lips felt incredible, but she pulled away before he had much time to respond.

Eyes still closed and mind now in a daze, he finished what he was just about to say without thinking, “…would have cleaned that up by now,” referring to the spilled drinks.

Jessie felt her heart sink at those words, and was halfway off the couch before Jonny woke up and pulled her back down

She tried to fight him, but before she could get a word out, he grabbed her head in his hands, and covered her mouth with his again for a lingering moment. “Any two people in our position would have done that about three years ago,” he breathed against her lips and then claimed them for the third time.

This time, he was the one in control. He continued to hold her head between his hands, rubbing his thumbs along her cheekbones. He kissed her gently, hoping that she could feel that she meant everything to him. It wasn’t easy resisting the temptation to intensify the kiss, and it wasn’t easy not to get too excited. He’s been dreaming about this moment for way too long. So to slow things down a bit, he pulled away from her mouth reluctantly and began kissing her neck. Jessie didn’t seem to mind at all. She was just making small noises and letting him have free reign.

That didn’t last too long, however, because Jessie likes to be in control. Before he knew it, they were kissing again, and she had pulled herself up to straddle his lap. Jonny could feel the locket fall against his neck as she had to lean down a little to kiss him. He kept his hands firmly on her hips in order to maintain some semblance of control. ‘I should have given it to her months ago,’ he thought, as he tilted his head a little so that he could deepen the kiss. Their tongues were about to meet when they heard it…

“Kids are you still up,” came Race’s booming voice from the front door. Jonny doesn’t think either of them ever moved so fast. They’d had a lot of practice trying to look innocent when they were caught doing something wrong, but this was the bad.

“Daddy,” Jess yelled, and then headed off to intercept him, which Jonny was unbelievably grateful for.

“Hey sweetheart,” he said as he pulled her into his big arms. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” she said as they walked into the living room. Jonny noticed that she had hidden the locket under her sweater, and wasn’t sure how he felt about that. In any case, he made sure to kick the box under the couch.

“Hey Cowboy, the place looks good guys. You guys have been busy, huh?” Race asked, seemingly too tired to get suspicious at all.

“Yeah,” Jonny replied. “We thought it’d be nice for everyone to come home to. Why are you guys here early and at 1:00 in the morning by the way? Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Race told them slowly, clearly not totally meaning it. “There was just a change of plans, and we had a few extra pickups so…” he started to explain, but was interrupted.

“There’s my girl,” they heard, and everyone’s head went to the doorway.

“Mom?” Jessie questioned in disbelief, as her mother made her way towards them, and wrapped her in a hug.

Jonny meanwhile just stayed on the couch staring straight ahead. He wasn’t really sure how to act around Estella now. He hasn’t seen her in forever, and has officially confirmed her dislike, so he’s feeling a little weird. He can tell that Race is feeling uncomfortable too, but trying hard to hide it, and he can see the distress on Jessie’s face. Seeing the look on her face makes him decide to take a page out of Race’s book and just put on a smile so that Jessie’s Christmas isn’t ruined.

“I’m gonna go help with the bags,” Race suddenly chimed in. “I’ll be back in a few.” Jonny wished that he could leave too.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” Jessie asked, still shocked.

“Well, I felt bad because I knew you wanted to spend Christmas here and in the Hamptons,” her mother said, and Jonny noticed Jessie roll her eyes, but Estella either didn’t see it, or just ignored it, and continued. “So, I called your dad and Dr. Quest to accept your invitation, and thought maybe we could combine the two,” she finished happily.

“I’m glad you’re here mom,” Jessie said a little cautiously, afraid that she had ulterior motives.

“Hey, Estella. It’s been a while,” Jonny piped in uneasily.

“Oh hi, Jonny. I didn’t even notice you there,” she said a little too sweetly. “How are you?”

“I’m…” he began, but Estella turned away and cut him off.

“Jessie, I have a surprise for you,” she said with a smile.

“What is it?” Jessie asked tightly, remembering all too well why she’s kept her mother away from the Compound for the last two years.

“Hey Baby,” came another interruption from the doorway and Jessie was surprised yet again.

“Jordan?” she chocked out, hoping he was an illusion.

“It’s only been a few hours, but I already missed you so much,” Jordan said, as he made his way towards Jessie. “I couldn’t wait another month,” he said, and then swooped her up in his arms.

Jonny felt like the Earth had been removed from beneath him. It didn’t even matter that Jessie appeared none too pleased with the situation. It was still like a punch to the gut to watch her in someone else’s arms

“You must be Jonny,” he said, releasing Jessie and extending his hand.

“That’d be me,” Jonny tried to say lightly, getting up from the couch, and reluctantly taking his hand for a quick shake. “Well it’s late,” he added quickly after that. “So, I’ll let you all catch up and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he finished, making his way to the door.

“Nite,” Jordan said.

Estella didn’t say anything, but gave Jonny a fake smile as he exited the room. He never even looked at Jessie, finding himself irrationally angry at her again.

“Jonny wait,” she whispered and caught up with him at the bottom of the steps, grabbing his forearm.

“I can’t do this with you right now,” he replied curtly and tore his arm away.

Then he made his way up the stairs without looking back. He’d already had enough of the Jordan and Jessie show for a lifetime, so he didn’t even want to think about having to deal with it for the next week or more.

‘Screw them,’ he suddenly thought, as he shut his door. ‘I have more important things to deal with anyway,’ and then he picked up his phone to make the call. ‘Damn it, I hope someone cleans up that mess downstairs,’ he thought, as the phone continued to ring. ‘Or else I’m gonna get shit from Mrs. Evans tomorrow too. Merry Fucking Christmas to me.’
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Love is Strong