By Chance (A Jeremy Jordan Fanfiction)

Chapter One - By Chance

"This such a beautiful day." I take in my surroundings in the gorgeous city of Vienna with my good friend Laura.

I take a bite of my gelato and sigh contentedly; I love this trip.

I open my eyes and squeal, "I'm so happy I got to go on this Europe Trip!" I give her a side hug and she laughs until —

BAM.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I say while latching onto my victim's arm for balance. I'm at chest height on him, staring in horror at the huge chocolate gelato stain/mush that is on his shirt.

"It's-" he starts to say, but I'm still so frantic and want to fix things that I pull him into the nearest restaurant for napkins. Laura follows us inside, looking overwhelmed herself.

I run into the bathroom and wet some paper towels with water and soap, rushing back out to dab at his shirt. "I'm still so sorry, I should've been paying attention, I hope I didn't ruin your—"

I stop talking when he grabs my wrist, pinning the napkin and my hand to his chest, waiting for me to breathe. I can feel him staring at me and all I can do is stare at his shirt.

Please don't be pissed...

"I'm not mad," he says gently. "I promise it's fine. I should've been paying more attention too. It's not your fault, just relax."

As he releases me I can feel all the tension leave me and my muscles visibly relax. "Thank you—"

I look up at his face and freeze again, really taking it in. Not only was he gorgeous and only a few years older than me, but he's also familiar somehow.

"Do I know you?" I frown, frustrated that my supernatural skill of identifying people by their face/voice was failing me.

He dazzles me with that sheepish smile, running a hand through his hair self-consciously. "That depends on a couple things; do you watch theatre or tv?"

I gasp, then snap my fingers. "Jeremy!"

He laughs. "You got me."

I laugh too. "Wow. You're taller than I imagined."

He touches his chest dramatically. "I don't know whether to be hurt or flattered." I laugh before Laura interjects.

"I'm sorry, do you know each other?"

That's when I realized how close we were standing still and I took a cautionary step backwards. "Technically no."

I pause, turning to face him and held out my hand. "Jennifer Scott, pleased to meet you."

He smiles and accepts my handshake. "Jeremy Jordan, likewise."

Laura laughs. "Oh, you were in that musical about newspaper boys that Jen is obsessed with."

"I mean, not I'm obsessed." I blush profusely as I feel him stare at the side of my face.

Laura raised an eyebrow at me so I laugh and say, "Hey!" Then I throw a napkin at her.

I finally look at him and he's smiling warmly. "Oh, have you been to a show?"

I bite my lip, hoping my cheeks aren't red. "Unfortunately, no. I find clips where I can whether it's Tony's or bootlegs, even broadway.com. And of course the movie. But I live in Chicago, so I didn't have a chance to go see it live."

He nods. "And since we're in another country right now and the tour is running through Chicago this month, I'm guessing you're not going to see it then either."

I point at him. "A smart boy, huh?"

We all laugh, Laura probably laughing more at me then the joke reference to Jack Kelly.

At this point we've made it outside, back to strolling the streets. It's quiet for awhile, just the sounds of life around us crashing together.

"Do you mind if I hang out with you ladies for a bit?" Jeremy turns to look at us as we window shop.

I raise my eyebrows, shocked but not in a bad way. "Yeah of course."

We head into a local store that Laura swears by to find Jeremy a new shirt. While he's in the changing room, I swivel in the waiting room chair. Laura runs off to the restroom at the Burger King across the street and I decide to ask, "So, Jeremy, what brings you to Vienna, Austria?

"Ah," he says emerging from the dressing room and checking the mirror. "Well, it was supposed to be a romantic getaway with my girlfriend to try and rekindle things but..."

I look down. "I'm sorry to hear that. I know what that's like, it's not fun."

Jeremy laughs dryly. "No, it's not fun." He turns to face me. "The worst part is we're thousands of miles away from home, stuck in the same hotel room."

I grimace, and he smirks. "Exactly." He checks the mirror again before turning to me, showing the thumbs-up-or-down.

I stand up, circling him and pretending to look studious and serious. He laughs at that, saying, "Well?" once I'm back in front of him.

I look up at him playfully. "It looks great, I love the cut, but..."

"But what?"

I shrug nonchalantly. "As someone with similar eye color to yours; I recommend the same shirt in a green. It'll bring out the color in your eyes."

He frowns with an impressed manner. "You know this from experience, huh?"

I take a step back and gesture to my outfit with the slim cut green tee shirt. "Exhibit A." I laugh afterwards, which quickly dies as he takes a step forward and cranks up the intensity.

Looking me up and down and then in my eyes, he smirks and says, "You're absolutely right. It does match your eyes."

I see the realization of our situation dawn on him as he takes a step back and clears his throat. "I'm going to go find this in green, meet you at the register?"

I nod quickly.

Not too long after that, we step outside to find Laura sitting on a park bench.

"Laura!" I exclaim. "Way to let me know you're alive!" I hear Jeremy chuckle beside me.

She stands up and smiles at us. "Oh hey guys, sorry I just needed some fresh air."

I frown at her lame excuse but we start walking anyway. Laura holds me back for a second to whisper, "Actually I was just giving you two some space. How it go?"

I watch Jeremy obliviously walking ahead of us. "Very interesting. Details later." I swat her arm as she smirks at me before we run to catch up to Jeremy.