{ star crossed lovers come together by f a t e, rhee/jackson<3

my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing. friday’s at work for noah were usually a quiet affair. she had personally dubbed them a casual day as meetings thankfully never fell at the end of the week, and so she’d been caught quite off guard when the site manager on one of her newer projects had called and asked her to come down to sort out an issue. she was almost never asked to go on site, at least not after the property had been bought. for a moment the blonde had been panicked, she wasn’t at all dressed for a meeting with an employee, least of all a construction site but it wasn’t as if she had time to go home and change. and so the determined blonde figured she’d just have to suck it up. the noah in the business world was cool, calm and collected; much different to noah behind closed doors or the noah in the dating world. working as a property developer, she was surrounded by men most of the time and had learned early on that being assertive and demanding was the best way to get respect and what she wanted. having grabbed her keys off her desk, the young woman was out the door and in her car within fifteen minutes. she never bothered to carry a bag with her, all she needed were her keys, her phone and a pen. all of which fit easily into her pockets.the drive to the bronx wasn’t a particularly long one, but the weather was nice and it gave her a chance to relax and mentally prepare herself for whatever the disaster was she was about to be faced with. the area shed bought for her company was going to be turned into housing commission, designed specifically for families with special medical needs. as such, there had been a lot of specialist equipment required for the build and they were paying more then the houses were probably going to be worth, but noah didn’t care. this was what she’d taken her job for – helping those in need where she could. as noah pulled up to the construction site, the sight of a burly looking man made her pause. that wasn’t…jackson, was it? taking another look, she realized the man was blonde and didn’t have facial hair of any description. mentally, noah scolded herself, feeling a little pathetic. ever since her ‘date’ with the gentle giant, noah hadn’t been able to get the man off of her mind. it wasn’t just that he was breathtakingly beautiful (though that certainly wasn’t a deterrent) it was that he’d been chivalrous, polite and over all seemed like a real gentleman. noah had never wanted a prince charming, just a gentleman - someone who wouldn’t rush her into anything or use her. from their brief meeting, jackson had seemed almost perfect. however, he’d not asked for her number and she hadn’t been game enough to offer it so it was unlikely she’d ever see the man again. some small, naïve, pathetic part of her hoped though that maybe he’d one day turn up on one of her building sites, but the odds of that happening were a hundred to one. shaking her head to clear the thoughts of her crush from her mind, noah checked herself in the mirror to make sure she looked as professional as possible and sighed as she saw the scarlet color flushed over her cheeks. being socially awkward and a hopeless romantic had many disadvantages. blushing was defiantly one of them.pulling herself together as much as possible, noah stepped gracefully out of her car and wandered towards a man who was shouting frantically and waving his clipboard around – coughing softly to catch the man’s attention, she gave him a small smile and held her hand out. “mr danvers i assume? i’m noah valdez, we spoke on the phone?” she introduced herself politely and took the hard hat she was given as the man spoke at her enthusiastically. nodding graciously as he offered her a tour of the site, noah cursed herself for wearing heels and followed after the man, treading with trepidation through the ruble. within fifteen minutes of the tour, she could see the problem. recent storms had caused a lot of damage to the foundations and so once again she would have to fork out more money to pay for the build. just as she opened her mouth to reassure the man, she felt the tip of her heel get stuck on something heavy and instead of stepping forward, she fell with a surprised squeak. catching herself on her hands, noah gasped at her proximity to the ground and stayed still for a moment, both shocked and embarrassed at her clumsiness. she was woken from her little trance by the shouting of mr danvers and turned to look up and see what the issue was now. however what she saw made her heart skip a beat. jackson…it had to be, not an illusion this time either. she’d meant it when she said she’d have remembered his face. feeling her cheeks heat up as jackson’s boss alternated between yelled at him for leaving his tools all over the ground and apologizing to her, noah pulled herself up onto her knees, suddenly feeling very shy and anxious and not at all like the smart business like woman she made out to be. when the man stopped screaming to take a breath, noah looked up, giving a small, nervous smile. “hi jackson”le outfit | i hope this is okay

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Working as a firefighter, Jackson made a reasonable amount of money. It was enough for him to live by himself, be able to keep his house, take care of Kira, and go out with his buddies every now and again. He worked long shifts and then had long blocks off. Or, he worked some nights and had days off. The times were irregular compared to normal schedules, but it always left him with extra time. Though he wasn’t the type of guy who wanted to amass as much wealth as possible so he could be some hotshot, he did think it was wise to make more money and get another job. Back when he moved to Bronx he got a job as a firefighter and soon got another one as a construction worker. At the time he had been dating his high school sweetheart and since he was a gentleman, he wanted to be the provider. She was out trying to get a job as an actress and he wanted to be able to take care of who he thought was his future wife. So, the extra job not only allowed him to start paying for the house, it allowed her to not work for long stretches of time. When she was working, he was able to start saving up for their future and putting money aside.

Although it didn’t work out between them she ran off with some director Jackson never quit his second job. He consistently put money aside from each paycheck to go towards his future family. It always had been his desire to get married, have children, and have a typical American family. Jackson wanted to be able to take care of his family and he knew a big part of that was by financial support. He wanted his son to be able to go away to baseball camp or for his little girl to go and take those ballet classes. Or hell, maybe the kids would want to do the opposite sport and that would be fine with him. He just didn’t want them to be limited because he didn’t make enough money. Now, Jackson wasn’t planning on spoiling his children, but he wanted to be able to offer them opportunities and to be a good father. So, he kept working two jobs and never once complained about it. Sometimes depending on how his firefighter schedule was, he might work for twenty-four hours straight. Still, he didn’t complain. He knew it was all for a good cause and he genuinely did enjoy his work. Besides, after his half-sister Felicity showed up, Jackson was able to let her move in and support her because of that extra money he had saved up. Felicity was one of the best things that happened to him in a while so he never regretted supporting her and taking her in. She was family.

The construction company he worked for was currently building housing for people with special needs. Jackson was aware how much the property developer was putting into this project. Everyone was. Most developers tried to cut corners anywhere they could. They just wanted to get the project built as cheaply and quickly as possible so they could make the biggest profit off of it. This developer was going above and beyond and from the rumors Jackson heard, was paying for some of it out of pocket. Regardless, Jackson had respect for the developer and was glad to be on the project. Since he loved helping people, he felt like his work was really contributing to something meaningful with this project and he was working extra hard to get it done as best as he could.

It was after lunch on a Friday afternoon and Jackson was hard at work. Though it was only March, it was a sunny day and from hours of doing hard labor, he was getting pretty hot and was content wearing only a t-shirt and his construction vest. As he worked, he heard some of the guys around him start talking amongst themselves about a woman who was entering the site. Construction workers were notorious for their cat calls and half the time, Jackson felt like they were talking about women. He never really got involved with that and so he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on away from what he was working on. However, after the sound of a crash followed by his boss screaming at him, Jackson put down his hammer and looked up from the foundation of the house. His boss was yelling at him for leaving his tools scattered around and when Jackson looked over to where he was pointing, it wasn’t the tool that didn’t belong to him that caught his eye, but the woman who was now lying on the ground because of it. His heart skipped a beat when he looked over at him. He remembered her face. He knew he would. It was Noah, the beautiful woman he met at the speed dating event who he had been too shy to ask for her number.

Instantly he hopped out from the ground and walked over to her, holding out a hand to her while she was on her knees so that she could get up. “Noah, hi. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” The sledge hammer left haphazardly on the ground did not belong to him and instead had the initials of another man, but Jackson didn’t say anything to his boss. He’d take the blame for his friend. Besides, he was too distracted smiling at Noah to worry about something like that.

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tag: noah/peyton. words: 939. outfit: t-shirt, jeans, work boots, construction vest, hard hat notes: it’s perfect =)

thanks to kitty of atf.

my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing. from where she knelt on the ground, it was very obvious to noah that the universe had decided any time she saw the man in front of her, that she was going to look the part of a fool. it wasn’t like her love life wasn’t already bad enough without the universe throwing it’s two cents in. then again, since when had jackson become tied to the word love life? flushing a little, noah realized it was the night they’d met -. he’d been perfect and it had taken her a few days to figure out what it was she was feeling exactly. the butterflies in her stomach had been a dead given away, the smile on her face every time she thought about him had also been an indication, an indication that had been telling her that she had a crush. she had a crush on jackson. noah couldn’t remember ever having a crush, not even in high school. for a moment, she stared at the hand that was offered to her before reaching out and to wrap her own, smaller one around it. just like in the movies, like in romance novels, noah felt a little spark shoot through herself as their hands touched - though she told herself it was just static electricity, because those types of things didn’t really happen, did they? “oh…no please, it’s fine jackson. mr danvers, really” pulling herself up with jackon’s aid, noah lent over and brushed the dust off of herself, nervous with excitement. jackson, it was really jackson! “it’s my own fault, i should have known better then to wear heels to a construction site” she joked lifting a foot to show off the ridiculous shoe, trying to calm down jackson’s boss as the man looked between them accusingly, seeming to disbelieve how they’d know each other. after all, noah was known as a business tycoon, the daughter of a respected manhattan family and jackson was…well jackson was a lover of flannel – not that noah was complaining. plastering on the best confident expression she could manage, noah turned back to jackson’s boss and gave him a dazzling smile. “would you mind giving us a moment, mr danvers?” suddenly, the construction site seemed far too busy and honestly, noah just wanted a few moments alone so she could take in the glory of the man in front of her again.once the boss had agreed and walked off, muttering under his breath, noah turned towards her male companion again and returned his smile, shyly. she felt like a total fool for having fallen over and now that they were alone like she’d wanted, words seemed to have escaped her. the confidant, sure woman who had no problem handling pig headed businessmen seemed to disappear when jackson was around, leaving the more vulnerable, the more real noah behind to fend for herself. “i hope you don’t get into any trouble, i – i could talk to him if you’d like?” crouching down, she picked up the sledge hammer, startled at first by it’s weight as she hefted it up against her chest, peering down at the hammer in her hands. on the corner of the tool, the letter “C.B” were printed, initials perhaps? but jackson didn’t start with a c… “oh…this isn’t yours, is it?” the question was more rhetorical as noah tried to piece the puzzle together in her head. jackson was covering for someone, a friend maybe? could he have been anymore perfect? before she managed to drop it on her toe or something else completely ridiculous, noah set the tool down on a work bench and slid her hands down into her jeans pockets. “so…do you like working here?” oh for the love of…could she have been anymore lame? mentally slapping herself, noah shuffled her feet a little bit, glancing down at the ground.there was one question she really wanted to ask, one thing she really wanted to know. it had been a few weeks since the speed dating and over that time, noah had had a lot of chances to wonder if perhaps jackson had started seeing someone after their mini date, which she was sure she’d ruined. she’d thought of asking him, though now he was here in front of her, it seemed a little ridiculous and daunting to ask such a thing. was it really any of her business anyway? a few times, her lips parted as she stared at the ground, almost building up the nerve to ask, instead all that came out was a pathetic. “how’ve you been? le outfit | why they gotta be so cute? &copy; snap boom pow!

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Jackson gave her an easy going smile as he helped her up from the ground. It was clear there was no judgment and instead he just looked at her with concern. Construction sites were full of accidents waiting to happen. It was bad that she fell, but it was better than some other alternatives he could think of. Noah brushed it off, but without thinking he placed a hand on her shoulder and asked again, “Are you sure you’re okay? This place can be dangerous.” Soon he realized that he probably shouldn’t be touching her and he removed his hand and awkwardly ran it through his hair. His boss gave him a stern glance, shocked by the thought that Jackson would ever dare touch Noah. “No, it’s just our carelessness.” The tool shouldn’t have been left out. Sure, heels were not great a construction site, but one could manage. However, when tools were lying around sloppily, even the workers could potentially run into some problems.

Her boss looked shocked when Noah asked for a moment alone. Jackson was shocked too, but he felt a flicker of excitement over the fact that she wanted to speak with him. Did she actually like him? Was she perhaps interested in going out again? Still, he felt like he was jumping the gun and rushing things. Jackson was also so helpless in these situations and never wanted to be too forward. However, he did want to get to know Noah better. She was beautiful and seemed so sweet. For the first time since he broke up with Carolina, he actually wanted to get to know another woman better. It was still really early, but something had sparked, as corny as it sounded. He wasn’t thinking he was going to marry or even date Noah, but he was open to the possibility down the line. Something with her just seemed right and he didn’t want to let it go.

“Oh, no. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. He’s usually a pretty laid back guy, but I guess he’s trying to impress you. Which, uh, I never expected I’d be working for you.” That didn’t sound right. “I mean, I never expected the person behind this whole site was you.” Shit, that was even worse. He was making it seem like he didn’t think she was a good person or something. “I, just, uh, wasn’t expecting it… Big city and all…” He laughed nervously after his voice trailed off. He was digging himself such a hole and knew he wasn’t going to be able to climb out of it. When Noah picked up the sledge hammer, Jackson watched carefully and just shrugged when she asked if it was his. He didn’t want to get his friend in trouble, so he kept his mouth shut. “Thanks,” he told her when she put it out of the way and onto the work bench.

He wasn’t sure what Noah wanted to talk about with him privately then she asked how he liked working there. His stomach dropped. For a little bit he allowed himself to think that maybe she would have been asking about…No, it was stupid. They were both at work and she seemed very professional. “Oh, I like it. I like it a lot. A lot of people, they cut corner with these kinds of things or would never agree to this project, especially with how much the investor is putting in. Well you, you’re the one running this. It’s really special what you’re doing here. I’ve worked a lot of jobs and I’ve never seen anyone with this much dedication. It’s inspirational.” He was probably overdoing it, but it was all true. He didn’t really have any complaints and did think it was incredible what Noah was doing and was willing to put up with so that the place could get built properly.

Shrugging his shoulders he replied, “Oh I’ve been pretty good, thanks. Just doing the same old, you know? How about you? How have you been?”

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tag: noah/peyton. words: 673. outfit: t-shirt, jeans, work boots, construction vest, hard hat notes: blah, this is sucky, sorry

thanks to kitty of atf.