February 6th, 2014
A week since

The day was finally here. Adelaide was returning to LA after finishing the filming/press for Season 2 of Reign. Now, it was her turn to film her part as Kaitlyn Hart for TVD Season 5 and 6, all at once.

"Hey, you two here yet?" Sebastian asks as he was on pick-up duty from the airport this time.

After Nina and Ian's abrupt breakup over the weekend, Adelaide decided to return a week earlier than scheduled, with Toby saying he'd join her in a week or so.

That is what led to Sebastian having to pick up Adelaide and Rachel from the airport and getting them to Nina's place immediately, where Candice, Kat, Kayla and Julianne already were.

"Yeah, we can see your car. Give us a second to get the bags," Adelaide replies over the call before hanging up and getting a trolley for all their luggage and walking out of the airport to be greeted by the LA warmth.

As Sebastian walks over with a big smile and engulfs her in a hug, she murmurs, "oh god, I missed the dun so much. Ireland winter is no joke."

"Yeah, you've told us that like a thousand times," Rachel jokes as Adelaide rolls her eyes and they drive off in Sebastian's car.

"So, how's Nina holding up?" Seb asks as they wait for the LA traffic to clear out of their path.

"She's fine. They both saw this coming, honestly," Adelaide replies as Rachel hums.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You and Toby," Sebastian pushes on.

"Oh," Adelaide mumbles, "we're fine."

"Even after that fight? Did you ask him about it?"

"I didn't have to. He apologized and I didn't feel like bringing up old fights, so yeah. Look, we're fine. I'm happy," Adelaide reassures as Sebastian and Rachel exchange knowing looks.

"Right, as long as you're happy, Ads."

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

Upon reaching Nina's place, Adelaide rushes out of the car and into the house without a second thought. She engulfs Nina into a bear hug as soon as her eyes land on the girl lying on her couch with a bucket of popcorn in her hands.

"Addy, what're you doing here?" Nina asks in surprise, "wasn't you flight next week?"

"Yeah but I got here a week early, you know, 'cause I missed you all so much."

"You came early because of me," Nina deduces as Adelaide gives her a guilty smile.

"So, how're you holding up?" Adelaide inquires as she settles down on the floor, next to Kat.

"I'm good, honestly. It's not as bad as I thought it'd be. And all the girls are here so," Nina trails off as Adelaide hums in understanding.

"Good, now you all can watch some trash movie. I brought ice cream," Sebastian chimes in then.

"You're not staying?"

"No, I have somewhere else to be," he answers them before looking at Adelaide, "call me if you need something."

Adelaide nods with a smile before getting up and hugging him good bye. They girls then returned to bingeing shows and cheering up their friend.

It was around 6:30 in the evening when the doorbell to Nina's home rings, only for the group to be greeted with Paul and Phoebe, bearing multiple bags of snacks in their hands.

"Hey, how're you?" Paul asks sheepishly as he walks over to hug Nina.

"How could I not be fine when I've got you guys?" Nina quizzes rhetorically.

"You ready to leave?" Phoebe whispers to Adelaide as she nods.

"Where are you guys going?" Candice asks, having heard what Phoebe had asked.

"Oh," Adelaide and Paul exchange a guilty look, "we were...um, headed to Ian's place."

"Oh," Nina mumbles as a wave of awkwardness passes through the room, "have fun, I guess."

"You'll be fine, right?" Paul questions her in concern as Nina nods reassuringly before getting up and hugging all three of them. With that, the three said their goodbyes and drove off to Ian's place next.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

Upon reaching Ian's place, Adelaide does the same thing she had done to Nina, engulfing Ian into the biggest possible hug.

"Aww group hug," Daniel jokes as all the others join into the hug, Ian chuckling at his friend's antics.

"Hey Buttercup," he greets after they break off from the hug, "you got here early?"

"Only for you," Adelaide winks at him jokingly as they all chuckle.

"Always knew you loved me the most out of the bunch," Ian jokes back with a smirk as Adelaide scoffs.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy," she replies before moving on to hug all her other friends that were present there.

Joseph is the last person she hugs. As they break off from the hug, Adelaide turns to grin at the group, "you know what could cheer you up, Ian? My lasagna!"

Everyone's eyes widen in fear at her words. Not only did Adelaide hate cooking, but she was also horrible at it and everyone knew that.

"I think I still want to keep my house intact," Ian speaks up, "so, no thanks."

"Oh come on, Will taught me how to make lasagna. I'm good at it, trust me," she whines.

"Look, if I wanted food, I'd ask Phoebe or Joseph, okay? Not you," Ian retorts as Adelaide frowns.

"Fine, they can help me with it, then," she says, turning to Joseph with her puppy eyes, "pretty please?"

"Jo, do not fall for that!" Ian warns as Daniel whispers a 'oh, but he already fell,' that only Ian, Paul and Phoebe hear, due to being stood beside him.

"I...um, me and Phoebe can supervise?" Joseph suggests.

"Oh no, I'm out. I came here for moral support, not to be a personal chef," Phoebe holds up her hands in mock surrender and Daniel pats her back in encouragement.

"Fine, you're all the worst. Me and Jo can do it alone, right Jo?" Adelaide asks rhetorically but when she notices Joseph hesitating, she turns to glare at him, "right, Jo?" she repeats and the others chuckle from behind them.

"Umm...yeah sure, as long as you follow instructions," Joseph mumbles hesitantly. He might be in love with the girl, but her and the kitchen were a dangerous combo, and everyone knew it was better to keep the two separate.

"When do I not?" Adelaide jokes as she drags Joseph to the kitchen and starts putting out all the ingredients.

"Good luck, Jomo. You'll be missed!" Charles yells out from the living room and Adelaide yells back from the kitchen, "shut up, Charlie. Or you don't get any of my amazing lasagna!"

Joseph puts on a chefs apron and offers another to Adelaide, who was practically grinning in excitement.

"How about you lay the meat sauce on the pan while I work on the filling?" Joseph suggests.

"What meat sauce? Don't we do the cheese first?"

"Cheese? What cheese?" Joseph questions back and Adelaide gives him an 'are you serious?' look.

"The cheese that goes into the lasagna," she replies in a 'duh' tone.

"The cheese comes way later, love," he replies as Adelaide scoffs.

"Oh stop it, your Klaus is showing," she nudges him, "how about you let me do this my way while you just sit and watch, huh?" she asks while threateningly pointing a butter knife at him. Or what she thought was threatening, but of course, to Joseph, she just looked adorable as usual.

"Fine," he holds up his hands in mock surrender before sitting down on a stool and looking back at her, "let's do this your way."

Adelaide hums before moving to get the pan down from the cupboards but struggling to do so. After a few failed tries, she huffs in frustration when she hears Joseph chuckling from behind her. She turns to face him and glares, "did your parents not teach you to offer to help when you see someone struggling? You're just sitting here, laughing at me," she accuses.

"Hey, you're the one who threatened me with a butter knife and asked me to sit and watch. I'm just doing what you told me to," he teases as Adelaide huffs again.

"You're being mean," Adelaide tells him, "when I tell you to sit and watch, you're supposed to insist. Insist that I sit down instead while you do all the work. Don't tell me I need to teach you common courtesy now," she teases back as Joseph gets up from his seat and rolls his eyes at her.

"Fine, Miss Del, would you like to sit and watch while I make the lasagna that you promised everyone?" he quizzes her in a mocking manner as she grins at his antics.

"Yes, only since you're insisting," she replies before moving to sit on the stool he was sitting on a minute ago, as Joseph begins preparations for the recipe.

"Do you need me to chop the onions for you?" Adelaide offers after a while, "I'm getting bored."

"I think it's better you stay away from knives," Joseph replies as he continues to work on the vegan lasagna.

"Says the guy who daggers all his siblings," Adelaide jokes back, "sooo, how's everything in life?"

"I told you," he replies, "all's good."

Adelaide groans in annoyance before saying, "oh come on, I just came back after 6 months! Gimme more than that. Tell me what you've been up to, where you've been, have you been sleeping, reading, partying or what?"

"I've been working my butt off, if that's what you want to know," he replies as he finally turns to face her after putting the pan into the oven, "my life's not as interesting as yours."

"Oh please, we've got the same life. Same work. At least, you get to see your friends at work everyday," Adelaide scoffs.

"Well, so do you. Torrance and Toby are always there with you," he points out.

"I wish. Torr's on set when we're filming. Otherwise, he and Lyss are off exploring Ireland and whatnot. And you know, Toby and I are going through a rough patch so," she mumbles.

"Still fighting?" he asks in a low voice.

"Not fighting, but not quite seeing eye to eye either. It's complicated. Nevermind, let's not talk about that," she brushes it off, "I missed you guys so much."

Joseph hums before turning back to work.

"Jo?"

"Hmm?"

"You're supposed to say you missed me too. Seriously, is something wrong with you today? Are you sick?" she asks as she walks over to him and checks his forehead temperature, causing him to chuckle.

"I'm fine, just a little hungover," he replies nonchalantly.

"Hungover?" Adelaide asks in surprise, "who took you to get drunk on a Tuesday?"

"Oh, no one."

"Quit lying."

"I was out...with Persia," he mumbles, "it was just a friendly catchup," he quickly adds.

"Oh," Adelaide says, "I didn't know you were seeing her again." She didn't know why, but the idea of him being with someone, Persia, of all people, was unsettling in her mind right now. It made her feel some uneasy type of way.

"I'm not seeing her again, we just got together for a drink. Nothing much," he clarifies again as Adelaide only hums/ before either of them can break the silence, the oven times dings, causing Joseph to get back to work again.

It was an hour later when the dish was finally done. Phoebe had whipped up some cupcakes as desert as well while Adelaide was put on salad duty, knowing that was one thing she couldn't mess up.

"Wow, this looks good," Charles compliments as they all settle down on the dining table.

"Thank you," Adelaide smirks as he rolls his eyes.

"There's no way Addy made this lasagna," Ian chimes in.

"Of course, I did! Jo, tell them," she pokes him from beside her.

"Ouch, ah yeah, she made this, sure," he mumbles.

"That's doesn't sound convincing. I don't want food poisoning," Daniel jokes.

"I'll poison it specially for you if you want, Dan," Adelaide gives him a threatening look as they all pass the dish around and begin eating.

"So Addy, how's blondie?" Daniel asks after a few moments of silence.

"Blondie?" she asks in confusion before realizing, "oh, yeah he's fine. But can we like, not talk about him for one day? I swear, it's like you guys are more obsessed with him than I am."

"We're not obsessed with him," Paul scoffs.

"And neither should you be," Ian chimes in as the others nod.

"Okay okay, what do we talk about if not you and blondie?" Daniel asks rhetorically.

"Oo I know, let's talk about how Jo got drunk on a Tuesday and guess with who?" she answers with a teasing smile as Joseph's eyes widen in shock. He shares a worried look with Daniel, causing Daniel to realize what she was talking about.

"You told her?" Daniel blurts out in anger and frustration, continuously glaring at Joseph from across the table.

"I wasn't supposed to know?" Adelaide chimes in, "so now what, you guys are keeping secrets from me?"

"What, no? We don't know what you three are talking about," Ian responds.

"We're talking about Joseph's 'friendly catch-up' with Persia," Adelaide informs them as the others' eyes widen in shock.

"He's been going out with Persia and you didn't tell us?" Ian asks Daniel through gritted teeth.

"I tried to warn him but this freaking dumbass wouldn't listen to me!" Daniel defends.

"You should've still-"

"Stop talking like I'm not here," Joseph cuts into the argument, "it was just a friendly catch-up. Not a big deal."

"You're such a dumbass," Phoebe repeats Daniel's words, "like, I have no words."

"Wait, what did I miss? I thought we all liked Persia?" Adelaide inquires.

"When? What alternate world are we talking about?" Ian spats.

"Okay, you know what? We're ruining a perfectly good dinner that Addy didn't make for us," Charles breaks off the conversation, "so let's get back to the food and happier topics instead of arguing like a toxic family, which we aren't. Alright?"

The others hum in agreement before digging back into the food, moving on to talk about their shows and other, better topics.

It was almost midnight when everyone was finally ready to head home after a much needed reunion.

"Addy, you need to get someone else to deep you off, we're headed to Phoebe's parents' place from here," Paul informs as they all gather their things, ready to leave.

"Yeah, and it's the other way so," Phoebe agrees.

"Charlie Boy can drop me off," she tells them but Charles vigorously shakes his head 'no' when Daniel glares at him.

"Um no, sorry I can't. I'm going with Daniel," he lies.

"And my place is on the other side of town anyway," Daniel adds as Ian smirks, realizing what they were doing.

"Well then, Ian can I borrow your car?" Adelaide asks then.

"No gas, sorry."

"Ugh, I'll call Seb then."

"Jomo can drop you off. Don't make poor Seb drive all the way here, this late," Ian tells her as Adelaide turns to look at Joseph with a questioning look.

"Um yeah, sure. We're headed the same way, anyway," he shrugs. Adelaide nods with a smile before leaving to get her bag as he turns to glare at his friends, who were smirking at him, "you guys don't even try to hide it, do you?"

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Ian grins as Joseph scoffs and rolls his eyes at them before walking to the house's entrance, where Adelaide was waiting for him.

"Come on, let's go," he ushers her out of the house with his hand placed on her lower back.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

"Jo," Adelaide breaks the comfortable silence as they drive towards her home.

"Hmm?"

"Can we-"

"No."

"You didn't even let me finish talking," she frowns.

"I know what you're going to say. You just got back from winter and into summer. Ice creams will make you fall sick, Del," he tells her, causing her to frown further.

"Oh come onnn, don't be such a party pooper," she whines with her puppy eyes on show but he avoids her gaze, looking ahead.

"You can't deny me ice cream!" she continues whining, "oh come on, stop the car! Or I'll scream and tell everyone you're kidnapping me," she threatens.

"No one will believe you," he retorts.

"Jo, please!" she requests, placing her hand on his arm and nudging him.

Joseph sighs in defeat, finally stopping the car outside the next Dairy Queen that caught their eye.

Adelaide practically jumps out of the car in excitement as Joseph strolls behind her, trying to hide his smile at her antics.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you when you get sick after this," he tells her as they enter the store, causing her to slap his arm.

"Don't jinx it! We'll be fine," she tells him before ordering their choices.

While leaving the ice cream stop, Adelaide's eyes land on a 24-hour CVS, causing her to look at Joseph with excited eyes.

Joseph follows her gaze and immediately shakes her head 'no', "it's way past midnight, Del."

"But-"

"No, you're crazy."

"Tell me something I don't know," she retorts, holding onto his arm and dragging them to the CVS.

'that I love you,' Joseph thinks to himself but doesn't say it out loud as they get a trolley and Adelaide starts placing all kind of junk food into the cart.

"Why do you need 7 bags of Cheetos?" he asks her as they move along the isle.

"Because I wasn't home for 6 months and I need food to survive?" Adelaide replies in a 'duh' tone.

"So, shouldn't you be getting healthier stuff? Like a steak or something?" he suggests as Adelaide looks at him like he had said the most offensive thing ever.

"Jo, do you even know me or what? You want me to get raw steak and make it by myself at home?"

"Oh right, my bad," he corrects himself with a smile as they continue to shop. Or Addy continues to shop while Joseph follows her like a love-sick puppy (which he, technically, was).

After finishing their shopping spree and finally getting to Addy's house, Joseph tells her get all the groceries inside.

"I had so much fun, today," she tells him with a grin, causing him to smile back.

"Yeah me too, crazy lady," he teases.

"Hey, ice cream is a necessity, okay?" she nudges him playfully.

"Yeah sure, whatever you say. Just don't fall sick," he tells her before checking the time. 2:35 AM.

"It's really late and you just got back today. I'll get going now, you get some rest. Don't stay up eating this junk, okay?" he warns her.

"Okay, dad," she replies, holding up her hands in mock surrender and they both chuckle.

"Okay bye," he tells her as she moves over, hugging him tightly.

"See you soon, Jo," she says, kissing his cheek in a friendly manner before he smiles and walks back to his car and she walks into her house.

'Friendly'. Maybe to her. But to Joseph, this day meant everything. After 6 months of not having her around, getting to see her and spend so much time with her, it meant everything to him. And he had his crazy friends to thank for that.

On the other end, even Adelaide thought today was one of the most fun days ever. She finally reunited with her friends and got to make some crazy memories with Joseph. She found herself replaying their moments today, smiling to herself. Eventually, her thoughts trailed to how she hadn't heard from Toby all day. He hadn't even texted to see if she had reached safely or not. 'Was everything okay?' she wondered. After some more overthinking, she began wondering if being with Toby was still what she wanted. And why did she not like the idea of Joseph getting back in touch with Persia? With such thoughts crowding her mind and the jetlag kicking in, Adelaide finally drifted off to dream land.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

[tagged: adelaidebrown]

Comments have been limited on this post

iansomerhalder Tell us something we don't know

↪ adelaidebrown Hey, that's exactly what I said too!

↪ paulwesley I don't think they meant it as a compliment, Addy. But sure, whatever floats your boat

mr.danielgillies Thank you both for ditching us like this

↪ therealjosephmorgan You're the one who 'had to get home early'

↪ adelaidebrown Yes, it's all your fault Dan.

↪ charlesdavis2013 Idk what this is about, but I second that

[tagged: therealjosephmorgan]

Comments have been limited on this post

imsebastianstan I hope those groceries were for me

↪ adelaidebrown Not everything is about you

↪ elizabetholsenofficial Yeah, this is about Jo and Addy's night out

↪ chrisevans How cute

↪ anthonymackie You guys need to hold your horses before Addy comes @ you

↪ adelaidebrown Too late, Mack-attack

therealjosephmorgan One shopping spree with you and I'm concerned about how you survive on junk like that

↪ tobyregbo That's what I've been wondering all this time. This girl eats nothing that's even remotely healthy

↪ iansomerhalder Hey, if Addy wants to eat junk food, she eats junk food.

↪ mr.danielgillies Yes, it's her choice of life!

↪ adelaidebrown Hahahah f you @therealjosephmorgan @tobyregbo

↪ adelaidebrown Ian and Dan backing me up? Is the world ending or something???

↪ iansomerhalder Be thankful before we switch sides, missy

[#Joselaidenightout & #Joselaidereunion are trending worldwide]

Author's Note
I was feeling generous so here's a chapter full of Joselaide content! This is just the beginning heheh.