Spotlight Girl //a Jeremy Jordan Fanfic//

Thirteen: Memory Lane

A/N: I'M BACK!! It's been a long while but with some time off of work and a sudden rush of inspiration, I am determined to get some writing in for this story. Hope you enjoy Chapter 13!

Jeremy's POV

Descending the rickety wooden steps down to the beach transports me straight back to that night, all those years ago. Duchess the dog weaves inbetween my legs, almost tripping me up a few times in her excitement to get to the sand and have the ball thrown for her.

"Don't know why you're doing this to me," I chuckle, scratching the top of her head playfully. "I'm not the one with the ball!"

She whimpers up at me, continuing her playful weaving, causing us to become more entangled as the leash Jamie is holding her with wraps itself around my legs. We both laugh as I try to free myself from the web Duchess has created while Jamie sweetly scolds her.

"Duchess you silly old girl!" She smiles, stroking her ears before straightening up to a standing position. "Sorry, she gets excited when we go to the beach." 

I shake my head. "no worries, you should see how excited Riley gets when the mere mention of a walk is uttered!" I smile as we make it to the bottom of the steps and onto soft ground below. 

I lift an arm up to shield my face from the setting sun as it sunk slowly past the cliffs ahead and watched as Jamie, a few feet ahead, unclip Duchess from her leash and throw the ball for her. Duchess galloped ever so gracefully after it, splashing through several shallow pools as she does so.

I catch up to Jamie and stand next to her, watching Duchess splash around in the tide pools, ball abandoned at her feet with this new, exciting discovery.

"So...Jamie?" I began, shoving my hands in my pockets and squaring my shoulders against the wind. Jamie looked up at me, pulling her jacket around her and folding her arms. "Hm?" She hums.

"Where'd your Mom get inspiration for that one?" I ask, turning myself more towards her.

Jamie smiled, letting out a small laugh and brushing the hair that had blown in her face back behind her ears. "Well, Mum was 100% certain I'd be a boy," she began, twiddling with a loose thread on her jacket. "My grandad had passed away a few weeks before I was born and that solidified in my mothers mind to name her first born child after him - James." She smiled again, looking off into the distance at the ocean beyond.

"Well, surprise surprise, I wasn't a boy! Which threw Mum through a loop hole! However, it didn't change her mind about the name so instead of James, she picked the gender neutral alternative: Jamie."

I can't help but chuckle at this. James. I remembered him as a kind, warm and gentle sort of giant. When I'd met girlfriends parents in the past, their fathers would be boisterous, dominating, cold and stoic with this overwhelming energy of "you hurt my little girl I'll kill you!" but not James.

He was a man of few words, didn't have to threaten or intimidate me, he commanded respect just by being himself and you never wanted to disappoint him...from Julia's diary entry about her parents finding out she was pregnant, his reaction makes perfect sense.

Remembering him now brings a sort of melancholic warmth to my chest. I had no idea he passed only a few months after I last spoke to Julia. "He was a good man. Your grandfather." I say, looking up at Jamie, smiling sadly.

"Yeah," she mumbles, a soft smile playing on her lips. "So I've been told."

We both fall silent again and I feel an awkwardness bubbling. Scratching the back of my neck, I clear my throat and swiftly change the subject. "What about your grandmother? She still around?"