"Jo, come on, it's old Mr. Laurence's birthday party! Now put on that dress and let's get going." Meg said to Jo, who had refused to turn up in the Laurence residence with the new dress her mother had bought for her, unless the event was of importance, which she thought was not.

Jo dodged the question and answered her older sister with another one. "Why can't I go in this?" She motioned to the raggedy dress she was wearing. "You know I'm terribly uncomfortable in that!"

"Because, I think Mr. Laurence would like to see all of us dressed up nicely for his birthday, and that includes you, Jo." Meg replied, and cheekily added, "Plus, Laurie especially would be happy to see you in that dress."

Jo turned slightly pink and concealed her embarrassment by retorting, "Fine! Whatever, let's just get this over with." She stormed into her room to change, against her will, into, in Jo's opinion, scandalous dress.

To tell the truth, it wasn't even horrendous at all; it just showed a little more skin than Jo had expected.

After Jo had begrudgingly changed, Marmee, the March sisters, and even old Hannah marched to the Laurence chateau. Once they had arrived, Marmee gave a polite knock on the white double doors. The knock was answered by a smug-looking butler. "Ah, yes, come in. Mr. Laurence has been expecting you." He said with an air of sophistication Amy had very much wanted to imitate. They bustled in and patiently waited for the old birthday celebrant to present himself to his guests. After a minute or two, Mr. Laurence had come.

"There you are! Do come in, you are most welcome. Now, you may put your belongings right over ... Here. Yes, that should do. Now come and join the rest of us." The old man was speaking so excitedly that the girls barely recognized him as their youthful neighbor's dull, strict grandfather. He then turned to Hannah and said kindly, "Now don't you worry about feeling out of place. If you like, you can stay in a corner and do whatever you'd like."

Then the family had split up; Marmee and Hannah went to join a group of middle-aged and elderly women, Meg with coquettish young ladies, Beth and Amy with each other (Beth didn't like being around a lot of people and Amy decided that it would do herself good if she accompanied Beth), and Jo with Laurie and some other boys, whom she assumed were his friends.

Jo sauntered silently up to the familiar tall, broad-shouldered figure and tapped his shoulder. Laurie turned and with his voice filled with glee, said, "Jo! Boy, am I glad you're here! Tom, Dean, Rob, I'd like you to meet Jo. Jo - Tom, Dean and Rob."

"Oh, hello." Jo waved cheerfully to the three boys, all of who waved back with equal merriment. Tom had short, dark brown hair and was almost as tall as Laurie. Dean looked foreign, with his sandy hair. Probably from France, Jo thought. Rob had red hair, and just like Laurie (though a bit shorter), he had curls bouncing everywhere as he spoke. "It's nice to finally meet you, Jo. Laurie has told a great deal about you to us." Rob said. At this, Jo's head spun to Laurie automatically, as if accusing him of doing something morally wrong. Laurie had only shrugged.

"Like what?" Jo asked them, still eyeing Laurie suspiciously.

"Oh," Tom began, with a pretty good imitation of a teenage girl smitten with love and romance. "Things like how nice your hair smells, how beautiful you look when you smile- Ouch!" Tom had received not only a dirty look from Laurie, but, apparently, a kick in the shin as well. Laurie's cheeks were evidently still burning red, but not as intense as Jo's, who had been blushing furiously at the unknown comments Laurie had made about her.

Laurie cleared his throat to diminish the awkward silence. "Well, what do you want to do now, gentlemen-" He glanced at Jo. "And lady?"

The others had pensive looks on their faces. To Laurie's prediction, Jo was the first to speak. "We could ask each other to do something, be it against his own will or not, and he is obliged to obey, otherwise he'd be punished in the preference of the person who'd given him the dare." Jo spoke quickly with much enthusiasm. Then she turned to face the rest of them. "Are you all alright with that?" Mutters of 'yes' rose in the air, making it audible to Jo, who nodded beamingly and turned to Laurie. "Shall we start?"

"Yes. Who wants to start first?" Laurie said.

"Me!" Tom said, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "Hm... Let me see... Aha, you, Dean!" This caused the reserved boy to look up quizzically. "I want you to hop on your left foot and go around the room." Upon hearing this, Dean spat angrily and looked as if he was about to protest but decided to follow anyway. "Américains et leur folie." He muttered under his breath good-naturedly.

So up he got and hobbled his way around the room, receiving gawks, stares and glares (possibly from his parents) from all corners of the room. He returned to where the rest of his friends stayed, wedged between a look of indignation because of the embarrassment a particular friend had given him, and one of mirth because he had fun doing it.

Dean heaved a sigh and gave a look of resignation to the others, and said, "Well, I'm done wiz zee dare. Who is next?"

"It's my turn, now!" Rob exclaimed, portraying as much enthusiasm as Tom had just now. His eyes darted to Jo. "Jo," the dark-haired girl met his gaze, as if daring him to do something outrageous. Upon seeing her expression, Rob decided to go for a milder dare against his will. "I want you to change clothes with the person on your left. You may change back after five minutes."

This obviously made Jo quickly look to her left. It was Tom. "Okay, let's just get this over with." She and Tom stood up and went to separate rooms. Somehow, they managed to dress quickly without much difficulty. They returned with expectant faces. As predicted, the boys laughed and snickered at the twosome, especially Tom in the red dress. Lucky for Tom - though it didn't help much with his embarrassment - Jo's dress wasn't as feminine as the other ladies'.

Howling with laughter, Dean said, "Now zat is a good price to pay for my most recent embarrassment."

"If you even let out any hint of laughter, Jo and I shall go in that room," his finger was now pointing to the room they'd entered just now. "And change back." Tom growled.

Jo, however, seemed to be okay, and possibly enjoying her new temporary clothes. "Well, I for one enjoy it; it's not everyday I can wear these fine clothing instead of being puffed up in that despiteful dress!"

The rest of the boys nodded, still snickering at the sight of their not-so-lucky friend.

"Okay, Laurie, it's your turn now." Rob said, still choking with laughter, which he made a fruitless attempt to conceal for both Tom's and his sake.

There was a malevolent glint in Laurie's dark eyes. It was now his turn to face the laughing boy, who, looking upon his mischievous expression on his friend's face, swallowed a big gulp of fear and resorted to saying nothing.

"Rob," Laurie said, turning to him. "I want you to ask one of those girls - yes, those over there with Jo's sister - to have a dance with you."

A look of relief was now on Rob's face. "Oh, that's easy." He said with a sort of pleasant smile on his face.

"No, I'm not finished yet; you have to dance with them - blindfolded. That includes the asking part." Laurie added knavishly.

Now, Rob's eyes widened with horror at the sudden twist of circumstances. "But - but - but that's not allowed!" He protested, delirium evident in his speech.

"Sorry, Rob," Jo said with a semi-sympathetic look on her face. "But I'm afraid that you should do it. Tom and I have done our part, and I should think it right if you do it. Anyway, it's just a silly little game. Just go for it."

Rob seemed to be convinced by Jo's well-placed words. He finally stood up, but it was obvious to the rest that he was still fearful - they could see his knees wobbling as if they were jelly.

"Wait, Jo and I have to change first." Tom said.

They all mumbled, agreeing. Jo and Tom quickly changed to their respective clothing.

Dean hastily pulled one from his pockets, to the others' curiosity. They raised their eyebrows at this, but did not question the queer ways of the French boy. Dean gave the blindfold to Rob.

Rob then tied the blindfold with a tight knot, his eyes fully covered. "Here goes," he muttered.

"Let's guide him to the girl, first." Tom suggested.

"C'est une bonne idée!" Dean said, getting up from his seat and held his friend's arm firmly.

The three boys, one of them blindfolded, walked slowly to the faraway group of giggling girls, who seemed to notice the boys going their way. That left Jo and Laurie alone.

"So, say happy birthday to your grandfather for me!" Jo grinned at Laurie.

"I will," he said, grinning too at his friend. He finally had noticed Jo's dress. "Say, what made you wear that?" He was now pointing at Jo's dress.

Jo's face heated up and then said, "Oh, Marmee and Meg made me. It's not like I wanted to anyway."

"I'm glad they did." Laurie added cheekily. Jo punched Laurie in the arm. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"That's for being a nosy half-wit!" Jo said, her voice mixed with annoyance and mirth.

Laurie shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I was telling the truth; you do look pretty in that dress."

"Well, thank you." Jo said, blushing furiously, and then turned stubbornly away from him, only to turn back to him for her desire to talk with her friend. "Where are the others?"

Laurie looked up, a pensive look on his face. "Let's find them."

The pair got up in search for their three other friends. After a brief moment, Tom, Rob, whose blindfold was now removed, and Dean came rushing to them. All of them were exploding with laughter.

"It was hilarious! You two should've seen the look on the girl's face when Rob asked her!" Tom blurted out.

"Oui, oui! C'est drôle! I agree wiz Tom, yoo should have seen ze whole thing!" Dean exclaimed.

The laughter died now because they were now clutching their stomachs in mild pain due to their all-too-much laughing. "Say, Laurie, we haven't asked you yet."

"Ye, I will be the one to ask him!" Tom declared. He faced Laurie, who yawned. This convinced Tom to make the dare wilder. "I dare you to..." He glanced at Jo. "Kiss Jo."

The rest, with an exception of Laurie and Jo, were snickering and nodding their heads profusely. Jo and Laurie glanced at each other, then looked away in embarrassment.

Rob gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, if you don't want to, I guess you're just a-"

"Fine, fine, I'll do it!" Laurie said exasperatedly, though there was amusement lingering in his black eyes.

Rob raised his eyebrows at him, then beamed. "Good. You may go over there... Or in your bedroom..."

Laurie and Jo were now as red as tomatoes. "Just shut up, will you, Rob?" Laurie snapped.

The twosome walked to the bathroom. Laurie shut the door and locked it. Jo looked up in big, wide eyes. "You know, you don't have to do this," Laurie said huskily. "We could just pretend."

"Hey, if we did, I'd call ourselves cowards." Jo said lightheartedly, though she could feel her heart pounding on her chest. Laurie nodded.

Laurie lowered his neck to Jo's height and wrapped his strong arms around Jo's uncharacteristically tiny waist. To his surprise, Jo wrapped her white, slender arms around his neck. He then pressed his hot lips against Jo's, pulling Jo's flush against his hard chest. The kiss intensified. His tongue was now entering Jo's mouth. Jo's fingers ran through Laurie's hair as Laurie kissed her neck. He pulled Jo closer, as if never wanting to let her go. To their disappointment, they finally released due to lack of air. They were panting now, avoiding each other's gaze.

"Well, let's fix ourselves now, shall we?" Jo said timidly.

Laurie could only nod. After fixing their appearances so as to not seem suspicious to their other friends, they went back to their seats.

"Well, that seemed long-" Tom began.

"We had to, uh, ready ourselves." Laurie covered up quickly.

Mr. Laurence approached the rambunctious group. "Laurie, Miss Jo has to leave now, as well as the other guests. I'm afraid you have to say goodbye now."

The gang stood up and walked to the entrance.

Laurie and his birthday celebrant of a grandfather were now standing by the double doors.

Mr. Laurence was now saying polite goodbyes to the guests. "Au revoir, Mr. and Mrs. Babineaux! Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Adams! Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson..."

Laurie and Jo were now standing with each other in a deep conversation.

"So... Did you enjoy it?" Laurie asked curiously.

"What, the party?" Jo said.

"The kiss." Laurie said plainly.

Jo's cheeks tinted pink. "Oh, of course not, Teddy, you know that I..." She trailed off as she noticed Laurie's doubtful expression. "Okay, maybe I did." She mumbled.

"I certainly did." Laurie said cheekily.

Jo hit him in the arm. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"For being a bonehead." Jo said. She stood on her tiptoes and planted an innocent kiss on Laurie's lips, not caring if anyone had seen it. "And that," she said. "Is for giving me the most wonderful experience I've ever had in my life."

She strolled away with the rest of her family, leaving Laurie with his mouth hanging wide open.
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A/N: I do not own Little Women or its characters, but I do own Tom Parkinson, Rob Adams and Dean Babineaux. Thanks for reading! :)