"Circumstances" (my fanfic)

[ks]

This is my first shot at FOL fanfic so please let me know what you think!

Circumstances


“Closing time!” Tootie hollered as she locked the door and flipped the sign so that the part that the customers saw read ‘closed’. She then walked over and sat across from Natalie who was doing her homework. She sighed at the sight and stood up, walking over to Blair and Jo who were counting the day’s income and writing it all down. “Guys, it is so BORING!” she stated exhaustedly.

“Tootie,” Jo started. “Miss. G is out of town and it’s up to us to run the shop. We each have to put in a little extra time, it’s only for a week or so.”

Tootie rolled her eyes as she hopped up onto the countertop and placed her chin in her hands.

“You know, I agree with Tootie. All this work isn’t good for one’s manicure,” Blair said as she put down the pencil she was holding and observed her fingernails.

“And what about me?” Natalie stated as she put down her books and walked over to where the other girls were gathered. “I have a huge test in two days, and I HAVE to ace it.”

Jo, “Will you all just stop complaining, it could be a lot worse. Miss G could have hired somebody to be in charge but she’s showing that she trusts us, so let’s prove she’s right.”

Blair sighed, “That’s real touching Jo. Really it is, but I have a date tonight, so I have to go get ready now.” She then walked out of the room…

“And I have that test to study for,” Natalie added as she gathered her books and followed Blair…

Tootie shrugged, “I’m going to a movie with Jermaine.” She gave Jo a sympathetic look and then walked out of the room…

“Great,” Jo said to herself as she raised her arms into the air. “Leave us all in charge and look who’s sitting here working their butt off…”

******************************************

The next morning Jo sat on the stool placing muffins onto a small platter as Blair admired herself in the mirror.

“Morning all,” Tootie said as she walked in looking at the newspaper. “Uh, Jo, where’s Nat?”

Jo shrugged, “Haven’t seen her.”

“Blair?” Tootie questioned.

“Sorry Tootie, she’s already left.”

Tootie sighed as she nonchalantly inched towards Jo. She quickly shoved the paper towards Jo.

“What in the heck did you do that for?” Jo asked as she tossed the paper to the side.

Tootie’s eyes grew wider as she muttered something under her breath.

Jo raised and eyebrow at Tootie and slowly looked over at the newspaper. Her mouth slightly dropped open at what she saw. She quickly shoved the paper into the trashcan.

“What is it?” Blair asked curiously.

“Oh nothing!” Tootie said quickly. “Well, school calls. Later, guys.” She quickly gathered her books and walked out the door.

‘Great,’ Jo mumbled to herself as she put her hands in her pockets and walked over to Blair. “Uh, Blair, I know this is going to sound like a dumb question…”

Blair smirked, “Don’t worry, I’ve come to expect that from you, considering you aren’t the brightest person in the world.”

Jo shrugged, “Well, this may seem dumber than usual…” She sighed as she propped up against a table. “Does your family drink a lot?”

Blair raised an eyebrow, “I honestly don’t think that that concerns you.”

Jo nodded, “You’re right, it doesn’t… Do they though?”

Blair laughed nervously, “Why are you pestering me about this, Jo?”

Jo bit her bottom lip and played with the buttons on the end of her shirt. “The paper this morning says your dad has been hospitalized after a bad car accident. The police link the accident to DUI.”

Blair turned to the mirror she had been looking in and stared at her reflection hard. “He promised he would quit…” She quickly picked up her coat and ran out of the store…

Jo watched as she ran, unsure of what to do. She quickly jogged over to the phone, made a quick call, grabbed her jacket, and headed out of the store in the same direction Blair had previously gone, locking the door and hanging the closed sign as she did so.

********************************************


Tootie and Natalie tossed a twenty-dollar bill at the cab driver as they both hopped out of the car.

“I hope he’s ok!” Natalie exclaimed as they jogged into the hospital.

“I hope Blair’s here!” Tootie yelled as the stepped into the elevator and pushed the ‘up’ button.

“Jo said that she just ran out, where else would she go?” Natalie questioned.

“Who knows with Blair. Maybe to Paris…”

“That’s the way Tootie, think positive,” Natalie said sarcastically.

“Ok, ok…”

They watched as the elevator stopped and the door opened. They both ran out and headed to the nurse’s station to find out which room David Warner was in…

*******************************************

Jo nervously paced back and forth. There were two things bothering her. One was that she had no idea where Blair was, because neither the hospital nor the Warner family had heard from her. Secondly she got the jitters in hospitals. She nervously ran a hand over the back of her head…

‘This can’t be good,’ she thought to herself…

Tootie and Natalie jogged around the corner and ran right into Jo.

“Why don’t you just rent me a room if you’re going to flatten me like that again,” Jo said defensively as she pulled herself up off the ground.

“Sorry,” Tootie said nervously.

“Any sign of Blair?” Natalie asked as she entwined her fingers and nervously let her eyes roam around the hallway they were standing in.

Jo shrugged, “No, nothing at all. I locked up the store and put a call into Langley to let them know the situation.”

They all stood in silence for a few minutes…

“Jack and Jill climbed up the hill to fetch a pail…”Tootie started.

“Tootie!” Jo interrupted. “What in the hell are you doing?”

Tootie shrugged, “Singing, I’m nervous.”

“So is every other person at this hospital but you don’t hear them singing nursery rhymes,” Jo snapped.

“Sheesh,” Tootie sighed.

“Tootie, why don’t you and I go get something to drink?” Natalie said as she gave Tootie a ‘say yes’ look.

“Ok,” Tootie said reluctantly. She and Natalie both walked off…


Jo nervously scratched at the back of her neck as she sunk down into a chair. She had known Blair four years and Blair had done some crazy things, but this was close to topping all of them. ‘Just running off like that and making her dad worry even more…’ Jo thought to herself as she closed her eyes and sighed…

Tootie and Natalie walked around the corner and smiled at what they saw. They had been gone two hours, walking around the hospital and trying to keep their minds off the bad, and now when they came back their Jo sat, asleep. They giggled to each other and Natalie inched over to Jo and slightly nudged her shoulder.

“Jo, it’s getting late. You’ve been here at least nine hours and there’s no sign of Blair. Why don’t we call it a night?” Natalie pleaded with her.

Jo slowly opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. Once it all came back to her she quickly sat up straight and alert. “Any sign of Blair?”

Tootie walked over to Jo with a small frown on her face and shook her head. “No, nothing yet. Monica has people out there looking for her though.”

Jo shook her head, “They won’t find her. If Blair doesn’t want to be found-then she won’t.”

Tootie and Natalie looked at each other, and then at Jo. “Why don’t we go back and get some sleep,” Natale asked quietly.

Jo shrugged, “I don’t know guys…”

Tootie raised her hand. “We’ll tell Monica to let us know if they hear from Blair. You’ll be able to chew Blair out better if you get some rest.”

Jo gave a little laugh, nodded her head, and slowly pulled herself to her feet. “You have a good point, let’s go.”

Natalie, Tootie, and Jo stepped into the elevator, pressed the down button, and began to go home, all still wondering where Blair had disappeared to…

***********************************************

Blair Warner quickly pulled on the doctor’s gown. She looked down at the green that was covering her body and wrinkled her nose. “At least it matched my boots,” she mumbled. She then pulled the little mask over her face and quickly made her way down the hall and to her father’s room. She put her hand on the doorknob and took in a deep breath. “Now or never,” she told herself as she slowly turned the knob and stepped inside the room. She quickly and quietly shut the door behind her. She let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding and looked over at the bed her father was laying in. She squirmed at the sight. He lay there, his face bruised, his arm in a cast, and cords running all across him. She closed her eyes tightly for a brief moment and then opened them, slowly making her way over to her father’s bed. She fought back the tears ash she stared down at him.

“It can’t be you,” she said slowly between tears. “It can’t be!”

She ran her hand down his arm carefully and sat down in the chair that was beside his bed.

“You promised you’d stop. You SWORE to me you’d stop! I thought I could trust you. Guess you proved me wrong, huh?” She bit her bottom lip as the tears came uncontrollably. “You know, I wish someone was here to tell me what to do. That someone was here to tell me what to say, and what to think. They’re not though, so everything I say to you now is coming straight from me…” She sighed as she placed his hand in hers. “I went into the city today and walked around. I didn’t buy anything, that’s a first, huh?” Blair laughed, trying to make light of the situation. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about what to say to you, what to do, how to act. I kept asking myself why you did it? Why would you go out and do something THAT stupid.” Blair wiped away a few tears and quickly placed her hand back on top of his. “I mean, with all the money you have you could have paid Mr. President to come and pick you up. Daddy, there was NO reason for this to have happened…” Blair took in a deep breath, “The thing I wanted to tell you is that I don’t understand why, and it was a really, really stupid thing to do, but I love you anyway. Believe it or not…I do-honest.” Blair smiled to herself. “When you get better though, which you will, then I want the truth.”

Blair sat there for a few more minutes, crying and explaining her feelings to her father. Once through, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room…


“Green isn’t your color.”

Blair quickly looked up, shocked at what she saw. “Jo, what are you doing here?”

There Jo stood, propped up against the wall, a light smirk on her face, trying to hide her concern.

“Come on Blair, I knew you’d have to see your dad.”

Blair gave a small smile as she walked over and sat in a chair. Jo did the same and sat across from Blair.

Jo shrugged, “So, how is he?”

“He’s going to be ok, according to the radio.” Blair laughed. She then became serious. “Now I have to live with this blemish-my father driving under influence of drugs.”

“Why do YOU have to live with it? It’s his mistake, why should you suffer?”

“You don’t understand, Jo. We Warner’s are a family.”

Jo smiled, “So are we Polniaczek’s, but my mom didn’t attend any school like Eastland, or even go to college. Her past or present didn’t and isn’t effecting me.”

Blair pressed her lips together. “It’s different for me though, Jo. The Warner’s are a name people look up to.”

“So set a good example and try not to do anything too stupid.”

“I told him that I loved him, and that once he got better we would talk about it.”

Jo nodded, “Then you did right.”

They sat in silence a few minutes…


Blair smiled, “How did you sneak in the hospital?”

Jo shrugged, “Just did.”

Blair nodded as she slowly began to stand.

Jo did the same and they both began to walk down the hallway towards the elevator.

“Oh, and Jo,” Blair started.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Blair smiled.

Jo nodded her head and gave Blair reassuring smile as they both stepped into the elevator to head home…

********************************************

Please Review!

[TVaddict]

This was very sweet. I liked it. Good job.

[KerriBerri687]

tears came to my eyes! (sniff, sniff)

[Jo_Po]

That was very good...a wonderful job for your first fanfic!
~Steph

[BlairW_1]

I love it! Write more fanfics!