Not Together

Friends in High Places

Idk anymore. I just don’t know what I’m doing. Sorry for those hyped for a good chapter, this ain’t it, chief.

“When you said a friend was joining us, I didn’t expect a girl. I assumed you we’re bringing Kakyoin.” The old man said, still apparently in shock of sorts, scratching at his silver beard. Ironically, when Jotaro texted you, you also assumed he meant Kakyoin, not Jotaro’s family. He extended a gloved hand towards you, “I’m Joseph Joestar, Jotaro’s grandfather.” He gave you a lopsided grin. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m (Y/n) (L/n).” You couldn’t help the anxious butterflies that fluttered in your stomach as you shook his hand. You recalled that some of the girls in school had somehow traced Jotaro’s family lineage once, a heard of them congregating creepily in the girl’s locker room, all gushing about how he was some crazy rich real-estate tycoon; Jotaro being the whole package apparently: tall, good-looking, and from a wealthy family. Was this that grandfather? Not that you were one to judge someone off looks but he didn’t “look rich”, but then again, it’s not like every wealthy person ran around in a top hat and monocle. The two moved aside so you could come in, removing your heavy jacket you noticed that the house smelled like fresh pine mixed with other holiday scents, which was fitting for the season. Jotaro was dressed more “formal” than usual, donning a black turtleneck instead of his usual grey hued tank top, along with his usual attire. You raised an eyebrow, but said nothing; he didn’t seem like the type to dress up, let alone wear a festive sweater like his grandfather. Even though it would be pretty cute to see the six foot something muscular teen wearing something so out of the ordinary for him.

Jotaro led the way to the familiar sitting room, where you could hear two women talking, Holly and someone else. As you rounded the corner, you were immediately greeted by Holly, an enthusiastic hug waiting for you, pulling back and holding you at arm’s length as she told you how cute you looked. An older woman with a comically large curled bang stood up from a wingback chair that was in the corner of the room, a warm smile on her face. She was dressed very posh, a green colored designer dress suit complete with hat and gloves; clearly a woman of class, unlike your casually dressed self. You blinked, some how recognizing the woman. Where had you seen her before? A lightbulb went off over your head as you thought back to where you’d seen similar styled hair, albeit shorter: the wedding photograph! This must be Jotaro’s grandmother.

“This is my wife, Suzi.” Joseph announced proudly, moving to stand next to her, his muscular arm curling around her. Oh, no, they were absolutely adorable. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Joestar.” You said awkwardly. She beamed down at you, standing a bit taller than you as she stepped away from her husband and offered you a gloved hand, “Please, just call me Grandma Suzi, sweetie.” You noticed that she had a faint hinting of an Italian accent. As you shook her hand, she looked past you, up at her grandson, “Jotaro, she’s adorable! I’m sure you two are the cutest couple in school.” Jotaro pulled his hat down, able to hide his blush behind it, while you were left out in the open with nothing to hide behind. You assumed that since Jotaro had told his family that you were just “a friend” he hadn’t told his family of your and his relationship, which was fine, you hadnt told your own family. You just had to keep that in mind and not make him uncomfortable throughout your visit. “Oh, um, we’re, um- we’re not together.” You said awkwardly. Joseph’s eyes widened, “Oh my God,” his eyes shifted to Jotaro, “Jotaro, you haven’t even asked your own girlfriend out?” He asked, brows furrowed. Jotaro’s own eyebrows lowered at the accusation, ears tinting red with even more embarrassment, Holly hiding a laugh behind her hand at her son’s expense.

“Oh, Joseph, leave them alone.” Suzi scolded him, wagging her finger like she would to a small child. “Ignore him, sweetie,” She turned waving her gloved hand at another gentleman, this one baring no resemblance to the family, “This is Rosas, our Butler.” He bowed his head at you, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss (Y/n).”

“You too, um, sir.” You weren’t quite sure how to address him, as he wasn’t your Butler, so using his first name seemed too informal for you. Suzi squeaked, hands coming up to her face as she gave you a closed-eyed smile, “She’s so polite!” She gushed. Your face reddened as you saw Joseph nudge his grandson, “You could learn somethings from her.” These were definitely Holly’s parents, recalling her saying something similar upon meeting you for the first time. Jotaro gave his grandfather an unamused look, the latter not put off by the look in the least bit as he gave the black haired teen a cheeky smile. A kettle whistle interrupted the moment, “That’s the tea.” Holly announced as she left the room, her mother and Rosas following in her wake, Suzi insisting on helping while Rosas insisting on him being the one to help. You assumed that being the Butler to someone who seemed so headstrong as Suzi did was probably a task in and of itself.

“I told you to dress warm.” Jotaro said as he stepped over to you, his grandfather watching from the corner of his eye, probably curious as to the dynamics of you two. You blinked and looked down, “This is warm.” You defended, holding your arms slightly out as if to show that you were fine wearing your current attire. He frowned down at you, brows furrowed, “We’re going into the mountains, it’s going to be a lot colder.” You cocked your head a bit, raising an eyebrow.

“The mountains? Isn’t that, like, an hours drive from here?” You asked, wondering why he didn’t mention that in the text message. “It’s actually an hour and fifteen minutes from here.” Joseph announced, slapping a pamphlet against his gloved hand, “There’s a small Christmas festival being held there.” He held the pamphlet up for you to take and look over yourself. Your eyes widened, you’d heard of the festival before, kids at school always talking about how fun it was when they were younger, but you’d never been to it. Not that you blamed your parents for not wanting to make the hour plus drive out in the elements. A festival set up to look like a small village, offering all the things one would expect: ice skating, Christmas lights galore, shopping, and tons of other Christmas-esque things. You snuck a glance at Jotaro out of the corner of your eye, wondering if he would enjoy any of this or of he was just along for the ride. He didn’t seem like the “Holly Jolly” sort, which seemed opposite of his mom, and his grandparents from what you’d seen so far.

“Looks exciting.” You said optimistically, shrugging up at your not-boyfriend as you handed him the brochure to look over. As he took it and looked it over, his mother and grandmother came back into the room, Rosas carrying a tea tray with some rather expensive looking tea cups on it. You thought about your own haphazard non-matching cup collection, making a mental note not to invite them to tea least you embarrass yourself. Cups were passed around, everyone asking you general questions, like how old you were, if you went to the same school as Jotaro, and such; making pleasantries. “We have a long drive ahead of us,” Joseph said, subtly reminding the group of the time you assumed. He looked over at you, his eyes a dazzling shade of emerald, the resemblance between him and his grandson was undeniable, even with Joseph having a more playful countenance. “(Y/n), do you like to travel?” You looked down at your teacup, thinking it over, “Yes, I do. I haven’t done much of it, really,” you admitted looking back up, “I’ve flown a few times to see family, but not much else aside from that. I’d love to travel more some day.”

You watched as Suzi’s eyes lit up, “I love flying. My Joseph is somewhat of a pilot himself.” She gushed, holding onto his arm, batting her eyes up at him. He blushed, scratching the back of his neck as he looked away, “Er, well, I-Heh, look at the time, we should get going.“ He chuckled, voice trailing off. You noticed  beside the elderly couple Jotaro shaking his head ‘no', side eyeing his grandfather. You raised a curious brow as you made a mental note to ask what that was about later, placing your now empty cup back onto the tea tray. Holly clapped her hands together, “I’ll go get my coat!” She said excitedly, giving the group a close-eyed smile. Jotaro’s hand came to rest on your shoulder, gaining your attention, “Come on.” You followed him out of the room, expecting him to lead you to the door, but instead he led you to his room. You blinked, eyebrow raised, “What are you doing?” you asked, watching him rummage in his dresser for something. “Making sure your dumbass doesn’t freeze to death.” He said, his tone causing you to flinch a bit. You’d dressed warm, but you didn’t expect him to be dragging you up a mountain by any means, so it’s not like you were at fault for not dressing warm enough by his standards.

“Here,” He turned towards you and began winding a soft scarf around your neck, “this should help.” You grabbed one of the ends, brushing your thumb against the soft, well worn fabric, purple with thin blue stripes outlined in a lighter blue, almost white. You looked up at him, his aqua blue eyes seemingly studying you for a moment, “Tha-Mmf!” Your thanks was cut off by a kiss, him having used the scarf to tug you towards him. “Let’s go.” He said as he pulled back, adjusting his hat like nothing had happened. You blinked, stunned for a moment, before trailing after him, rubbing at your cheeks as if that would get rid of the blush that dusted your cheeks. You tried to act natural as you and Jotaro rejoined his family, waiting for you in the entry area, Joseph eyeing the scarf around your neck for a moment, the corners of his lips quirking upwards. Rosas assisted Holly into her jacket, taking care to make sure that it was straight, smoothing the fabric over her shoulders. You assumed by the familiarity of the gestures that he had been an established member in the Joestar’s household for a while. He held the door open for the group, you saying a quite thank you as you passed, feeling awkward about having a Butler around, even if he wasn’t your own he was still acting as though he was in your service as well.

You blinked as you waked out, recognizing the limo as the same one you and (B/f) had gawked at the day before, recalling your dumb comment about your future husband being inside. (B/f) would never let you live it down if she knew who the limo belonged to, you could hear her now. You made a mental note to keep your mouth shut about it a Rosas opened the back door, allowing the three women to enter the backseat, the cab was a clean cream color on the inside, a plush bench seat in the back. You found yourself awkwardly squeezed into the back seat, between the two Joestar matriarchs, Holly pointing out various landmarks to her equally as hyper mother who unabashedly leaned over you to get a better look at whatever Holly would point out. Rosas seemed to be faring no better, Jotaro and his grandfather’s broad shoulders taking up most of the bench seat up front, the smaller man having hardly no room to himself.

“Are you warm enough, (Y/n) dear?” Suzi asked you, not giving you a chance to reply before she grabbed the green tartan blanket she had draped over her lap, “Here, Holly, grab that end.” She instructed her daughter who did as she was told and spread the blanket over her own lap, the three of you now covered. “There.” You thanked her, keeping your hands awkwardly in your lap. Jotaro shifted his eyes away from the scenery out the window, trying to subtly look over his shoulder at you to make sure that you were fine, not that you were in any sort of danger aside from maybe being “mothered” to death between the two; the three if you counted Jotaro himself, who seemed severely over protective of your well-being ever since you were sick, especially now that you were going into the mountains where the temperatures were much colder.

Thankfully the excitement died down a bit, now the group just making small conversation. You leaned that Suzi was from Italy, moving to America after she and Joseph had married, who was in fact the real-estate mogul just as the girls in school had said. From what you could tell, despite the distance, the family was very tight knit, very open with affectionate gestures; it was all so sweet. The ride wasn’t terrible, spending most the time watching the scenery change from the city environment into a more rural area, the trees growing denser as you got close to the foot of the mountain. Eventually the limo passed through a series of archways, letting you know that you’d officially made it to your winter wonderland destination. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, likely from the night before. It looked pretty as it clung in the tree branches, glittering where the sun hit it along the undisturbed ground, but turned the parking area into a mud-slushy. Rosas pulled up to the front, allowing you all to exit the car before he went to find parking, Suzi now wearing the lap blanket as a makeshift shawl around her shoulders. It was a courteous gesture, saving your shoes from the slush, which was nice especially considering that probably one of Suzi’s shoes alone looked like it cost more than your whole outfit.

Once Rosas had caught back up, Joseph led the group to the ticket counter, a small wooden building made up to look a gingerbread house, Christmas lights running along the roof. You stayed back a bit, allowing the family to go ahead so you could pay for yourself, not wanting to intrude. Once they moved ahead a bit you approached the counter, opening your wallet to fish out your money.

“Oi,” Your eyes swiveled over to the familiar gruff voice, “come on.” You blinked, raising a brow at him in response. You couldn’t very well go without a ticket. Jotaro broke away from his family with an eye roll to steer you back over to them by your shoulder, “B-but, I need to buy a ticket.” You said, finally finding your voice, your over reactive mind hoping the lady at the desk didn’t call the police on your dumbass for trying to get in without paying. “You already have one.” He said almost exasperatedly, holding it out for you to take, as if it were obvious. You lowered your voice so his family wouldn’t hear, “Jojo, you didn’t need to do that. I could have-“

“The old man got it.” He said simply as he returned you to the group, now waiting in line. You let out a quiet sigh as you put your money back, remembering that he did this at the aquarium too some months before; sort anyway, the difference being this time his grandfather paid. You looked up, inwardly shuddering as you saw that the line was for a gondola ride; small, mostly glass, gondolas leading up into the mountain. You swallowed hard, trying to not focus on how high the gondolas were off the ground, or how high they’d be going as you ascended the mountainside. You turned away from them, facing the group instead, Holly and Suzi happily chattering about all the decorations as well as how exciting it’ll be to ride into the mountain. It was safe to say the Joestars weren’t afraid of heights. You shuffled closer to Jotaro out of habit, seeking some sort of comfort from your heights-induced anxiety, not to mention he made a good shield from the weather, even if you had to keep things platonic at the moment;  Just two friends, who aren’t together, enjoying a day together, that’s all.

As you all stood in line you picked up on something odd. Joseph’s eyes seemed to always be scanning the area, a trait that Jotaro had as well. You’ve noticed whenever the two of you would enter a slightly crowded area, his aqua eyes would constantly be on surveillance, as if they were constantly looking for something. You had just assumed that it was just a trait unique to Jotaro, looking around, possibly him daring someone to look at him wrong or something, but maybe it was a learned behavior from his grandfather. You weren’t sure how much time they’d spent with one another, but they seemed very close; even if Jotaro simply referred to him as ‘old man’. Your observations were interrupted by the attendant calling up the next group: your group. Jotaro steered you up to the yellow line on the ground, hand on your back, probably sensing your anxiety. You crossed your arms, trying to act cool and aloof, like you weren’t internally screaming at the moment. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself nor Jotaro in front of his family.

“Don’t suppose I can take the stairs.” You said half jokingly, taking a step away from the car as the doors opened, pausing as if waiting to see if that was a legitimate option. Even if there were stairs, you’d probably be half-dead only about a third of the way there, not exactly in peak physical condition. Jotaro’s body blocked you from moving back further, “Go.” He said simply, using his muscular figure to essentially corral you into the car followed by his family. It was a small car, your group filling it, especially with Jotaro and his grandpa, the two having to duck their heads a bit as they entered. You planted yourself in the corner, hands fiddling with the ends of your borrowed scarf, trying to just keep yourself calm and ignore the fact that you were in a predominantly windowed box, hanging from a wire, heading up a severely steep incline. You steeled your nerves, looking down at the floor; can’t be afraid of the height if you don’t look out the window, right? Your pep talk was quickly quashed as the car began to move, swaying as it lifted out of the station. Your jaw clenched, shoulders rising up around your ears in fear, trying to stay calm, you didn’t want a repeat of the Ferris wheel. You held onto the scarf for dear life, not wanting to risk looking up to find one of the railings least you look out the window and give yourself an elaborate series of heart attacks.

You managed to keep your cool, cool being a relative term, for a few moments, breaking when the gondola passed by one of the tall towers that suspended the cable, jostling the gondola a bit as the wheels rotated, pushing it along. You held the end of the scarf over your mouth to muffle the noise of distress that you made in the back of your throat, eyes wide as you stared at the floor. Thankfully it was masked mostly by the Joestar matriarchs’ whooping with excitement as it bounced, practically pressed against the glass, having a great time. Jotaro came to your rescue, once more, removing his hands from his pockets as he stepped over to you. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” You chanted quietly to Jotaro from behind the scarf, apologizing for being scared as well as probably embarrassing him in front of his family as you stared at his shirt, the position familiar to you. He didn’t wrap his arms around you, instead opting to place his hands on your shoulders, a more “platonic” position than he normally would adopt. “It’s fine, stop apologizing.” He said from above you, leaving out a few choice words that he normally would pepper in when telling you to stop apologizing. Thankfully his family more or less ignored your plight, looking happily out the window at the beautiful scenery instead.

“Look, Papa, there’s the car! It looks so small.” Holly said, pointing out the glass down to what you assumed was the parking lot, you weren’t going to risk looking to find out. Joseph moved closer, hand on his daughter’s shoulder, “Oh, shit!” He leaned closer to the window, “Look how high up we are!”

“Joseph! Language, dear.” Suzi chided, swatting at her husband before returning to look out the window. Joseph blinked, gesturing over Jotaro as if to say, ‘what about him?’ like a child would, but his wife paid him no mind. You glanced over to Rosas to see how he was faring, finding that he was handling the gondola ride only slightly better than yourself, fiddling with his tie, smoothing it out, only to begin tugging and adjusting it again. “Isn’t this fun, Rosas?” Suzi asked, looking over her shoulder at him. He quickly snapped to attention, tie dropping from his fingers as he bowed his head a bit, “Y-yes, Madam Joestar.”

“How are you hanging in there, (Y/n) dear?” She didn’t look over at you, which you were thankful for, leaving you at least a shred of decency, as you were currently hiding behind her grandson for the most part. “Fine, ma’a- er, um, Grandma Suzi.” You corrected yourself, voice tight as you felt as though you had a lump in your throat.

The two of you stayed like that for the remainder of the ride, Jotaro standing strong against the saying of the gondola as you held onto the scarf for dear life. He stepped back as you all approached the station, now up in the mountains, which you had to admit did make for an impressive view now that you weren’t dangling high in the air. You could see his grandparents snickering at the previous protective position of the delinquent, Joseph nudging his wife with his elbow as she held a gloved hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

Rosas was the first one out of the death contraption, offering you a hand as you quickly stepped out, thankful to be on solid ground once again. You waited for the rest of the party, taking in a deep breath, feeling the familiar icy sting that accompanies the cold chilly air. “At last we made it.” Joseph said as he stretched, him and Jotaro probably more than ready to get out of the cramped area. You looked around, the entire place covered in wreaths, garland, tinsel, and lights of every color, you could only imagine how it looked at night, the lights glowing and dancing. There was definitely a magical feeling in the air, families running about excitedly as well as couples enjoying the quaint romantic ambience.

You all stood in awe for a moment, just enjoying the bite in the cold air, the smell of the trees, and the beautiful atmosphere, looking around for where to start first.

There’s not a lot of interaction in this chapter, just a lot of nothing I feel, but meeting someone’s family for the first time is always an awkward and intimidating moment.

I have a good portion of the next chapter written, so hopefully it won’t take too long. Sorry for complaining so much, I’m doing what I can.