Janni, NC17, Tom/Bill, 15/?

[steins_stories]

Title: Janni
Author: steinsgrrl
Fandom: Tokio Hotel
Pairing: Tom/Bill
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I in no way intend to insinuate that any of the below actually happened. It is simply a piece of written entertainment based on the public personas of real people.
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Twincest-not related, Adult Concepts, Light Kink
Summary: When two men meet and fall in love, they expect there will be bumps in the road. When one of those men has a daughter, some bumps can seem more like mountains.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to ma_chelle for the beta. You are invaluable. Lovely banner by lynnchan.

Tom saved the graphic once more, just for good measure, and closed the program. His ideas had come so quickly, so easily, and now he had six good options to show Mr. Shasky and his board. He grabbed his shoes quickly, putting them on and tying them while he tried to remind himself to call Shasky’s office and set up a time to come give his proposal. He’d thought they were supposed to call by now, but he hadn’t heard anything and he was excited to show them what he had for them.

He glanced toward the stairs, remembering he’d left his bandana on top of the dresser, and he ran up to his room, flying up the stairs two at a time before nearly skidding to a stop at the door. He snatched his bandana off the dresser and secured it around his forehead, tying it in the back. As he turned around to leave, though, he couldn’t help but look back at the bed. It was messy and rumpled and the pillows were askew and Tom's belly swirled at the sight of it.

Getting out of that bed had been so hard. He’d wanted to lie there with Bill until the sun set and came up again, even if they did nothing but touch and talk and whisper silly nothings that meant everything. But Bill had been called in to the pub to deal with an irate delivery driver and Tom knew Janni was getting out of school soon, so they’d finally dragged themselves away from each other and parted with lingering kisses and a promise from Bill to come over later.

Tom shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about this now. He wanted to get to the bus stop to meet Janni’s bus, but he needed to call Shasky first.

Bounding down the stairs, he glanced at the clock and found the phone, dialing with his thumb. The number rang twice before connecting with a click and a cheerful sounding receptionist answered.

“Hello,” he said, trying not to sound winded from running around the house, “I’m Tom Kaulitz and I’m supposed to set up an appointment with Mr. Shasky for a proposal.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before the receptionist answered, ”Tom Kaulitz,” she said slowly. ”Let me see when Mr. Shasky has time open.” He heard keys clacking on the other end of the line.

Tom waited quietly, looking at the clock again; the bus would be here soon and he really needed to go. He scratched his neck and paced the kitchen.

”Oh.” The receptionist continued, apologetically. ”I’ve been instructed to tell you…I’m sorry, Mr. Kaulitz, but the position has been filled.”

“Yes, by me.” Tom replied absently, opening the front door and looking outside, as if somehow he would be able to see the bus from there. “I’m available any time tomorr—“

”No, sir. By another company.”

Tom froze, frowning in confusion. “What? How could it have been filled? Mr. Shasky said I had the position—“

”I’m sorry, Mr. Kaulitz, but I really can’t tell you anything else,” the receptionist interrupted, briskly.

Tom was battling between panic and anger, and anger was slowly winning. His voice grew hard. “And why didn’t he tell me this himself? I’d like to speak to Mr. Shasky now.” He didn’t even have a clue what he would say, all Tom knew was that he wasn’t going to let this asshole get away with this without explaining to him personally why Shasky had told him they wanted his graphics for the book cover and now they won’t even see him for the proposal. The job was snatched from under him and the more Tom thought about it, the more pissed he got.

”I’m sorry, sir; Mr. Shasky is out of the office.”

Tom huffed into the phone, “And when will he be back in the office?”

”I’m sorry, he didn’t give me that information,” the receptionist answered, and Tom heard some of the politeness in her voice wearing away with the hardness of his tone.

There was nothing more to say. Tom realized there was nothing more to say and this conversation was getting him nowhere. Leaving a message would get him nowhere. The job was gone, it wasn’t his and no amount of arguing with this woman would get it back.

He hung up and dropped the phone with a clatter on the kitchen counter and tried to breathe deeply. It wasn’t going to do any good to get all upset, he told himself while his stomach roiled. It didn’t help anyone. He needed to keep his head clear and figure out what to do. The first thing he needed to do was go get Janni.

The bus stop was only a block away and with the quick pace he set as he stepped outside his house, it didn’t take him long to get there. He was earlier than he thought; no one else was there to pick up their children and Tom was glad he didn’t have to try to make polite chit-chat with other parents.

A brisk wind blew across Tom's face and down his neck, making him shiver and wish he’d have thought to bring his hoodie. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and hunched his shoulders against the chill, toeing at the ground. What the hell was he going to do?

He’d put everything he had into getting this proposal together. The money for this had been good enough that Tom had turned down other jobs, just so he could concentrate fully on this one. And he never thought he’d had to be worried, he’d never thought to make them sign a contract. Did anyone even do those anymore? He didn’t know, but he certainly hadn’t thought about it; Mr. Shasky said they wanted him. He’d given high praise for Tom's work and said he was anxiously looking forward to what Tom came up with for them.

So what happened? How could he have possibly—

A big, yellow school bus turned the corner at the other end of the block and came rumbling toward him. He looked up in time to see the bus driver put the bus in park and turn around, talking to them and pointing to the seats. A moment later, the bus door opened and kids began to spill out, the sea of children parting where Tom stood, going different directions. Finally, Janni came bouncing down the steps and she gasped in surprise when she saw her father.

“Daddy!” Janni squealed, and ran the few steps toward him, throwing herself into his arms. He wrapped them around her and picked her up, kissing her cheeks while she nearly choked him with her enthusiastic hug. “Why are you here?” She pushed herself away and Tom set her down, taking her hand as they turned to walk home.

“Just thought I’d surprise you, since we had such a rough morning.” Tom smiled and nodded toward the bandana tied tightly in Janni’s hair. “You didn’t lose it!”

Janni grinned with pride and touched the bandana with the hand that wasn’t tucked into Tom’s. “Nope! Well, I almost did. It was starting to fall out on the monkey bars and Mr. Timmons tied it up for me. But that didn’t work so good, so Miss K did better. Then it stayed in. I told them it was Daddy’s favorite and I can’t lose it.”

“Oh,” Tom nodded as they reached the front door, “Mr. Timmons didn’t tie it very well.” Tom winked at her as she opened the door.

Janni slipped her backpack off and dropped it by the shoe rack. “Yep, he didn’t do it so good.”

Tom laughed and shook his head.

~~~

“Daddy, will you play Go Fish with me?” Janni held out a pack of cards.

Tom wrenched his eyes away from the television, looking at the cards in Janni’s hand then up at Janni. His head was swimming and for the last two hours, he’d been thinking of nothing but what to do about his money problem. Every possible solution he thought of seemed to lead him right back to the fact that there was nothing for him to do but get more money. Somehow.

The worst part of all this wasn’t about him; it was about Janni.

What if he couldn’t make his house payment? He didn’t know to the dollar how much he had in savings but he was pretty sure it would barely make one month’s house payment. Then what? What if no offers came through? Would his house go into foreclosure? Would he lose it? Would Janni lose her home? The one she’s come to love, close to her bus stop, where all her friends live? Janni was the sunshine in Tom's life and it broke his heart to think that he might have to tell her that they can no longer live in the only house she’s ever known. That she can’t play with the friends she sees every day because they have to move.

“Will you?” Janni poked at him with the cards and he smiled tightly.

“I can’t right now, honey. I had a really bad day and I need to do some thinking,” Tom explained, frowning, hoping Janni would understand.

Janni looked at him curiously and climbed up in his lap. He grunted at she squirmed to make herself comfortable. “Ugh, Janni, why? Your bony butt is hurting my leg,” he complained, holding her waist and adjusting her so it didn’t hurt anymore.

Janni sat forward and took Tom's face in her hands and squeezed his cheeks until his mouth looked like a sucker fish and Tom couldn’t help but laugh. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands off his face. “What are you doing?”

“Daddy, why are you sad?” she asked, playing with Tom's fingers absentmindedly.

“I’m not sad. Why do you think that?” Why did he ever think he could hide anything from her? He looked away, toward the kitchen, though he didn’t really see anything.

“You sound sad. And your face is doing that frowny thing, with the line on your forehead.” Janni dropped Tom's hand and poked on his forehead, between his eyebrows. “You get that line thing when you’re sad.”

“Frowny thing, huh?” Tom replied, because he didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t want to tell her everything that was worrying him. She didn’t need that kind of stress. But he didn’t want to lie to her about something important, either. “I’m just having a problem with a client and I’m a little upset about that and I’m trying to think of a way to fix it.”

“You can fix it, Daddy.” Janni nodded, practically bouncing and Tom was about ready to make her get down.

“I don’t know, little girl—“

“I know you can fix it, ‘cause you fix everything and you’re the best fixer ever.” Janni nodded solemnly, a tiny hint of a smile on her lips.

Tom thought his heart would swell right out of his chest and he hugged her close and hard, his eyes growing wet. She had more faith in him than he had in himself and that only made it more important to figure out a way to fix this. Because Janni believed in him.

~~~

Bill closed the door behind him and toed off his shoes before hanging his coat up. It was getting damn chilly outside but he really didn’t mind; he liked jackets enough to own a dozen or so of them and it was nice to get to wear them again without sweating.

Turning the corner into the kitchen, he found Tom reaching into the refrigerator, putting away the leftovers from supper. As soon as he stood up, Bill was right behind him, wrapping his arms around Tom's waist and squeezing lightly when Tom startled.

“Hey.” Bill rested his chin on Tom's shoulder and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s okay. Nothing real exciting going on here, anyway.” Tom mumbled, feeling tense in Bill’s arms.

Bill thought Tom must be irritated, no matter what he said, and he turned him and pushed him against the counter, kissing him properly, nibbling on his lips. “I didn’t mean to be. I just got busy.” He flicked his tongue playfully against Tom's lips until they parted and he was rewarded with the taste of Tom he’d been craving since he’d left that afternoon. “It’s hard to work when I can’t stop thinking about this…about you.”

Tom hummed and broke their kiss, pulling himself out of Bill’s arms. “I need to get Janni to bed.” He left the kitchen and Bill found himself alone and confused. What the hell was going on?

Everything was fine this afternoon when he’d left. He’d gone to work, promising to come back tonight, and he did. Granted, he was late, but he couldn’t see Tom getting all upset over that. There had to be something else.

Maybe…

Bill winced and his stomach dropped. He wrapped his arms around himself, leaning against the counter, waiting for Tom to come back.

“…and don’t forget to brush your teeth.” Bill heard Tom call up the stairs after Janni.

“Tom?”

Tom came back to the kitchen, eyebrows raised in question. “Yeah?”

“So, um.” Bill started, hesitantly. “What’s going on?” He held his breath, hoping not to hear what he thought he was going to hear.

“Nothing.” Tom replied, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the opposite counter.

“Tom.”

“Just…I have some things I have to handle.” His voice was strained but Bill felt a certain warmth of relief at Tom's words.

“So this isn’t—“ he cut himself off and started again. “You’re not regretting what we did this afternoon?”

Tom's eyes flew to Bill in obvious surprise. “No! No, that’s not it at all.” He pushed himself off the counter and came to Bill, standing in front of him and touching his cheek. “Don’t even think that,” he said softly, and Bill sighed in relief.

“What is it, then?” Bill nuzzled into Tom's palm. “Maybe I can help.” He snuck his hands under Tom's tee shirt and held his hips, pulling him closer and rubbing his thumbs lightly against the skin above the waistband of his jeans.

“Yeah,” Tom snorted. “I don’t think you can help me with this one.” He told Bill about the phone call and Bill listened quietly, taking the whole story in, along with the pain and confusion on Tom's face. His chest hurt as he watched the man he’d grown to love stutter in anger and fear.

“So this means you have no income at the moment,” Bill asked quietly, when Tom was done and had pulled away to pace the kitchen.

“I have no income at the moment, no. And I have no fucking idea what I’m gonna do—“

“Done, Daddy!” Janni came around the corner into the kitchen and grinned, dropping Brownie when she saw Bill. She squealed and ran at him, throwing herself against his legs.

“Bill!” She held her arms up and Bill laughed, squatting down a little so he could pick her up.

“You know, you’re kinda big for this.” Bill grinned and kissed the side of her head as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “You’re heavy!”

“Am not. Look,” she said, grinning widely and showing off her teeth, “I brushed them good like Daddy said.” Bill pretended to inspect each tooth, peering into her mouth and poking the front teeth with his nail and Janni opened up wide so he could see the back ones. When he finished, he looked over at Tom, who was watching them, eyes shining.

“Very nice, but I think you better show your dad, too.” She squirmed to be put down and he was only too happy to comply. His arms were sore from helping unpack that damn delivery truck this afternoon.

Tom made a show of checking out her teeth and Janni nodded proudly when he told her what a great job she’d done. She picked Brownie up and hugged it to her, looking back at Bill. “Will you be here when I wake up?”

Bill looked at Tom, startled and wide eyed, and Tom nodded after a moment. “I don’t see why not.”

Janni yawned and doubled back to tug at Bill’s shirt, pulling him down to her. “Kiss goodnight.” She smooched his cheek wetly and then she and Tom were out the door before Bill could even stand back up. He held his fingers to the spot she’d kissed, his mind racing.

By the time Tom came back downstairs, Bill had an idea. He didn’t know how Tom would take it or what he would say, but he’d weighed all the pros and cons he could think of and this seemed to be the best solution for them all. He caught Tom at the bottom of the stairs and followed him into the living room.

“Hey.” He slipped his fingers into Tom's hand and tugged him down with him as he sat on the end of the couch. Tom leaned forward to grab the remote and click the television off and they sat back in silence, the tension thick in the room. Bill unconsciously rubbed small circles into the palm of Tom's hand with his thumb, and he decided it was now or never. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and tried to keep his voice from trembling. “I think I have a solution to your problem.”

~~~

A week or so ago, I got an amazing gift from a lovely girl named Jordyn. She asked me if she could make a video depicting Tom and Janni's relationship. I was extremely flattered that she liked the story enough to want to do this, so of course I told her that she could. I was honored. And then she showed me the video and it was so sweet, it made me cry. She told me I could post it, so I'd like to share it with you. I think it's especially fitting for this chapter. (Let it load and skip to :30 to get past the disclaimer)

On YouTube


Next

Comments

[hollie136.livejournal.com]

Oh Mel, I'm so excited about this! This isn't one of those horrible nerve-wracking cliff-hangers. More like a bouncing on the edge of your seat kind. Bill's going to come up with a great plan, I just know it.

As usual, Janni was adorable. Letting Bill check her teeth was so sweet, and typical of 5 year olds. And wanting him to be there in the morning.

Poor Tom, I've got a feeling I know why he lost that contract, but you just may surprise me and have me be wrong.

(I just realized I always seem to review from the bottom of the story upwards, if that makes any sense to you. Sorry about that.) And that video is still beautiful. *sigh*

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Aw haha! sorry about the cliffhangers. I don't mean to make them so bad. And your comments are just perfect, never worry! thank you, love! <3

[vani-27.livejournal.com]

Oh Gott, finally new chapter. YAY~
I love Bill in this fic so so much, he is all so sweet and elegant and gorgeous. Janni is very cute. Three of them really can make a very happy family, and i love your style of writing, a lot >_<

*is waiting for the next chap*

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :D

[evvva]

Absolutely wonderful. <3

I can't wait to find out what Bill's idea is.

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! <3

[subtlemagic.livejournal.com]

I want to know the solution! Though I have a feeling I know what it is, bless Bill.

Watched the vid again. Still as sweet as the first time.

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Isn't it, though? I adore it! :D

[tearose99.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy to see this updated XD I've gotten extremely emotionally invested in this story and I will probably cry when it ends. I had a feeling that Tom wasn't going to be able to escape negative repercussions because of his relationship with Bill. Mr. Shasky can suck a dick! I can't wait to see what Bill has in mind. Thank you <3

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh girl, I will probably cry when it ends, too!

No, thank you! You give such great support and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. <333

[katanabutch.livejournal.com]

All I can do now is smile, because you've created something tender and loving and rather squee-worthy in Tom ans Janni's relationship. And Bill...*cuddles him*
Suffice it to say I love this, and I can't wait to see what Bill's plan is!

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh wonderful! Thank you! :D

[demon-kyo.livejournal.com]

That video is great - when I started reading I really did think of Janni as I Am Sam era Dakota, what with the blonde hair and precociousness and all.

And well done on this chapter too, it just keeps getting better and better!

[itzerikaaa.livejournal.com]

I have so many thoughts racing through my mind this chapter! I swear I hope it was the bitch ass receptionist and not Mr. Shasky who decided Tom wasn't right for the job. I'm pretty sure I know Bill's solution and I approve SO MUCH lol If I'm wrong, the only alternative is them becoming strippers. It's all I will accept *nods*

I was waiting for Tom to flip the couch XD

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

LOL Yeah the strippers job is not something I thought of... but I WILL NOW. LOL (Thanks for putting that in my head!)

ROFL! I forgot about that. :p

[mrs-e-cat.livejournal.com]

Mr. Shasky is a prat!! Poor Tom <33
Janni is so gorgeous climbing onto Tom's lap, knowing that daddy is upset. 'Frowny face' is just too cute, and her interaction with Bill is adorable.
I really can't wait to hear what Bill's solution is =)
Wonderful as usual darling <3333

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

He so is. The bastard.

I could so see my daughter doing this when she was little. Janni's a darling. Thank you so much. <333

[synkkaenkeli.livejournal.com]

I cant wait for more *waits impatiently* This was the bright spot in my day...no kidding.

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

That is the sweetest thing to hear, thank you! <3

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a heart-breaking chapter. :-/ I know exactly why he lost that damn job. Stupid people! I forsee more hurt and pain for Tom and Bill. I fear he'll lose Janni over it, dammit. :-/ And that vid was just gorgeous! It brought a tear to my eye to. This has quickly grown into one of my favorite fics...

[steinsgrrl.livejournal.com]

I can't say what will happen, but every choice we make has consequences. I'm very happy you like the story so much. Thank you!