right person, wrong time.

earth to jo!

Chapter Three

"Aunt Joey!" The three exclaimed as they proceeded to tackle me onto the floor.

"Hiya guys! I've missed you," I chuckled,
my three beautiful nieces to whom my heart grew much wider than I ever thought possible once they had been born. "How have you been my loves?" I ruffled through Josie's dark ringlets.

"We've been super good, Demi is annoying as ever but she also let me play with her toys which was lots of fun," said Daisy making her way to her mother's lap.

"And just now we were playing dress-up with Laurie," beamed Josie looking up at the man in question.

"Dress up huh?" my eyes flitted to look up at him. "Teddy and I used to play that too when we were your age," I smiled at the memory, noticing the similar warm expression planted on his face.

"JoJo, you came," Laurie smiled.
Darn it. That god-forsaken charm hadn't toned down it seemed and he had only said three bloody words so far.

Our eyes met, classic. The same old mesmerising hazel eyes held my gaze. Oh Teddy, why- nope not the time Josephine.

"Of course! I had to be here to celebrate my sister! Besides there's no party without Jo March ladies and gentlemen," I remarked proudly and as much as it pained me, I tore my gaze away from him towards my sisters. My anchors.

"Hell yeah!" said Amy - not oblivious to that odd encounter but still looking past it because rightfully, there was nothing to be inspected.

Teddy and I were just that. Teddy and Jo. Nothing more and nothing less.

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"How's your music going Teddy?" I asked, passing the carrots along to him. "Bet you still suck at it," I smirked.

He returned the look with a much more remorseful grin. Strange. He never hesitated to bite back before to my crude remarks and he definitely never hesitated when it came to expressing his love for music.

"Well..." He paused, "Amy advised me to pursue my father's profession, it's much more practical and wise," he responded. "Besides, music didn't seem really realistic in the long-run," he sighed.

I was shocked to say the least. He had always been adamant on his music. It's a shame he thought otherwise now, at least outwardly.

"Oh really? Wow," was all I could muster up.

"What?" He looked up at me, quizzically.

"Oh no nothing, I just wasn't expecting that I guess," I remarked, avoiding his prying gaze.

"Well expectations are not always met," he retorted. "But we move."

Huh. What was that about?
The conversation drifted off as did my thoughts.

Was he mad at me? Still?
I mean it had been a long time since my polite rejection.
Plus, he had never read my letter anyway so for all he knows it was unrequited.

Personally (and I say this from a strictly objective point of view of course), I think it would be more devastating to discover that the love of your life actually loved you back after some well-needed reflective time!

"And you Jo?"

But he doesn't know that. Which is better - better for everyone, myself included.
Honestly, if he remains sour I may have to confront him.

No. I'm probably overthinking, classic Jo.

"Jo?"

Besides, there wouldn't be any reason for him to be mad. Would there?
If anyone should be mad it should be me.
Who marries someone's sister after they have proposed to them prior?

"Earth to Jo!"

It makes no logical sense.
It goes against morality.
Pitting sister against sister, woman against woman. It's despicable, disgusting, unacceptable!
Men.

Well lucky for him, Amy and I aren't like that. I would never ostracise her for following her heart.
It's him whose at fault. That rude, entitled, good-for-nothing, arrogant piece of sh-

"JOSEPHINE!" exclaimed Marmee.

"Huh, yes? Yes! You were saying?" I asked, everyone was staring at me, it seems they had been trying to gain my attention for a while now. Oops.

"Goodness grief, what a remarkable mind you have my child but honestly you'd lose it if it wasn't screwed on so tight," Marmee chuckled.

Well currently, this boy is making me loose any remaining ties to my sanity with the amount of grief he's giving me.

"Well at least I have a brain," I said, "others lack the bare minimum". I poked my tongue out at Amy, who was sitting opposite me - rather stiff I might add. Interesting.

"Hey you!" earning myself a well deserved jab in the knee, "Watch it! I may lack in intelligence, but my physical strength surpasses the likes of all of you in this room combined!" Amy pointed menacingly at each individual sat at the table, we all laughed.

To be fair, she wasn't wrong.

My attention drifted back to Teddy. He remained silent, his cold gaze fixated on his plate before him. Assbutt. What could be so interesting about some bloody china? Could he have gotten this dense in the last few months?

Honestly, I pray for Amy. Before we prayed to give Teddy some peace, but now - again looking at it from an objective perspective, Amy needs all the help she can get.

Maybe I am being too harsh but it's better to be angry at someone than to pine after them. Especially as the man in question is so blatantly unavailable, it's too agonising to endure.
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A/N: Damn it's getting more juicy now huh! Was Teddy being sour because he's still bitter or is Jo just overthinking things? She has got quite the imagination remember.

I hope you're enjoying this so far.

Sometimes I think - what if Alcott wasn't so against the public opinion of Jo x Laurie would they have panned out? I think so but then again did Jo really love Laurie? For Alcott I think it was mainly out of spite of the public view that she made Laurie x Amy happen imo.

I think Laurie did love Amy but it was only just enough... it was not and could never be comparable to the abundant amount of love he had for Jo, maybe Laurie and Amy's love was more lustful? Amy could give him what Jo could not, desire. I think Amy wholeheartedly loved Laurie but he loved Jo with the same amount of passion. A classic love triangle with the exception of Jo loving her independence more maybe?

I can honestly talk about the love dynamics of this novel for hours. As well as just the women, position of women and to be fair the entire novel itself.

But hey - I'm not Alcott and there's a reason for that.

- NDP :)