DISCLAIMER: The Facts of Life and its characters are the property of Columbia Pictures Television and Sony Pictures Television, no infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: beta'd by doughts and written for debs21221 during fol_fiction's Ficathon 2008
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Love My Way
By Real Savage Like
The weekend started off innocently enough, with Natalie and Tootie going to New York to see an art exhibition. That was fine with Jo, except that meant she had to work the shop with Blair. Then Mrs. G found out she had relatives visiting in a nearby town, so she trusted the two with staying alone for the night while she visited her family. "You're in college now, girls, I'm sure you can take care of yourselves," she said.
"I bet that art exhibit is just fabulous. They're having fun while we're stuck here, working," Blair said, leaning against a table and taking a large bite out of a well-deserved cookie.
"Well," Jo said, pausing to steal Blair's treat, earning a playful smack on the arm from the other girl. "Working the shop by ourselves is way better than doing schoolwork. Plus, we get tons of great, free food."
"Tell me about it. I've been meaning to study for a huge exam, but I've been putting it off for weeks. And correction: you mean you get all the good food, you pig!"
Jo scoffed. "Blair, why are you eating cookies anyway? You could gain weight or break out in tons of pimples."
"Puh-lease. I don't have anyone to impress at Langley; all the men are simply atrocious."
"What about me?"
"You have your moments too."
"That's not what I meant." Fact is, as much as she hated to admit it, Jo had fallen for Blair. It was impossible not to; as soon as she met the blonde, she knew why boys were lining up around the block for her. It was obvious that Blair was crazy about guys, and anyone who thought otherwise was simply delusional. But Jo swore that some of the looks they tossed at one another were more than what they seemed, sometimes they were full of passion, or just pure desire. And she noticed quite some time ago that Blair always stood very close to her, and they were almost always touching. Tootie and Nat were best friends, and they didn't touch as much as the other two did. Even when they argued, they were almost always standing nose to nose, staring into the other's eyes. It made Jo feel kind of sick to her stomach.
"What did you mean?" Blair said, sounding meaner than she meant.
"Well... I kinda thought you did that for me. I mean, not for me, but to make me jealous or somethin', you know? Sometimes I kinda got the feelin' you wanted to impress me."
"I didn't have to make you jealous. It comes naturally," she said with a smile and flip of her hair.
"Seriously, Blair."
The blonde's smile faded. "You're right. I wanted... I wanted to make you think I wasn't such a spoiled, emotionless brat."
"Then why'd you put all that gunk on your face and in your hair and prance around in blouses that cost more than my bike?"
"I like looking good, Jo. You know that," Blair paused to move and sit behind the till. "But I wanted you to like me. I wanted to impress you. Everyone looked at me as a Warner, and I was fine with that until you came along. I wanted you to see me as a human being, not money and trust funds and frivolousness."
"I do see you as a human being... sometimes," Jo laughed but stopped when she noticed Blair looked hurt. "You didn't have to try and make me like you. I would've even if you went on with your little rich girl routine. Truth is, Princess, I still like ya, and I always will."
Blair opened her mouth to reply but stopped when the door to the shop opened. She leaned over to ask the man if he was there to pick up something, when she realized he was wearing a black balaclava.
"It's not even cold out! He's obviously a fashion victim," she whispered to Jo.
When Jo looked at him, however, she realized he was concealing something in his jacket. She immediately became suspicious and leaned over to tell Blair, when she felt a large hand come down on her shoulder and spin her around.
"You work here?"
Before Jo could answer, Blair pulled her around the counter to her side. "Why, yes she does. Are you here to pick up a vanilla cake for," Blair glanced down at an order sheet, "Bernice?"
"Nah, girlie, I'm here to pick up something else. Open the drawer," the man ordered, revealing a handgun from his jacket. "Please."
Jo reached down behind the counter and clutched the baseball bat she found there while Blair continued to talk to the scumbag.
"What nice manners you have! You really don't want me to open the till, do you? I have plenty of money here in my purse. Would you like fifties or hundreds?"
Jo reached over with her other hand and stopped Blair from handing the man thousands of dollars. "Uh, no problem, pal." Instead of forking over the cash, Jo stepped from behind the corner, swung the baseball bat, and hit a sickening home run with the crook's kneecaps. When he fell to the floor writhing in agony, Jo kicked the gun under a table and told Blair to call the cops.
Before the police arrived, the failed robber crawled out the door and into the street. The police arrived three minutes later and questioned the two shaken girls. Blair's description of the robber fit him to a tee.
"White male, late 20's, terrible choice of attire, and you'll probably find him limping down a back alley, looking for his mother."
Less than a minute after Blair gave her description, an officer found the robber on the ground crying, about twenty feet from the store's front door. He was cuffed and driven away, and an hour after the failed robbery, all of the emergency personnel had left the building. Jo tried to convince the constable that they would be alright, and that they would call Mrs. G right away. The cop ended up sitting in the squad car around the corner, much to Jo's chagrin.
"What's his deal? I could've held down the fort! I did a pretty good job of stoppin' that guy, right?"
Blair brought the brunette into an embrace, and sealed the space between them with a searing kiss that made Jo blush to her roots. "Yes, you did."
"Wow... so, uh, does that make me your knight in shining armor?"
"Make that 'in denim armor' and you've got a deal."
The End