These will be written out in full accordingly, I just need to sort out how I'm going to write them out.
joey and aj:
1. growing up aj sometimes witnessed joey experience withdrawal, and as a little one, it scared him immensely; it made him closer to aoife than to joe. but as he grew up and understood more, they became closer.
2. having seen his father experience withdrawal, it made aj interested in medicinal treatment, particularly in drug prevention, leading to him going to med school (same one as hugh) to become an adolescent psychiatrist
3. aj often sat around with joe when he was working in the garage (having inherited it from tony after retirement) and picked up his father's skills for fixing things, so in university when something needs fixing or building (a shelf, furniture, etc) he's the first person his friends go to
4. while still in med school joey passes away, and due to that, aj fails his third year exams, having to repeat the year. but instead he goes back to ballylaggin, for an impromptu gap year, to help aoife and grieve himself
5. after joey's passing, alec, podge and tadhg in particular become aj's paternal figures, and they and aoife motivate him enough to make him go back to uni, ollie going as far as to relocate to a law firm (because he sa lawyer, like his dad nearer to aj's uni, so he has someone
6. aj has never done any kind of drug, ever. not even weed. he knows that the gene is passed down to him so he won't take that risk but also because the one time he did try in high school just some amphetamines, nothing he thought was major) joey, when he found out, broke down for the first time in years and begged his son, genuine begged him to not fall down the path he had. and so, aj swore to himself and to joe that he never would.
aoife and aj:
1. aoife once dyed aj's hair (and his face) bright pink, by accident, as she claims, but no one believes her
2. when aoife first opened her salon she always had aj there on days she couldn't find a sitter or daycare wasn't open, so when he first moved to uni he always passed by a hair boutique he always lingered, it brought him comfort
3. after joey's death aoife moved up to dublin, to be closer to ai, near casey and alec, they had offered. she couldn't stay in ballylaggin, everything there reminded her of him, but then again, everything everywhere did.
4. weeks before joe passed they found out the gender of their baby, another boy, this one would have many fathers, just not his own. but joey (as if he knew he wouldn't live to raise his boy) left him letters, video diaries, and most importantly a brother and mother who would never let him live without the memory of his father. aoife found the box (while deciding what to dress joe in for the funeral) containing a heavy stack of letters and their old camcorder, with a whole terabyte of joe she had never seen.
5. aoife and aj visit joey's grave every week without fail; sometimes for picnics, sometimes for talks, sometimes for anger. aj's angry that he left so suddenly, aoife angry he left at all.
6. aoife never went on a date again, never attempted to try to fall in love again, despite casey's trying; she couldn't. she was joe's and he was his, that's the way it always was and always would be.
bonus: katie sang at joey's funeral, aj chose the song, but aoife got the final say: knockin' on heaven's door. because joe had always been knocking, he'd only just been let in.
