Title: I'll Be
Pairing(s): Joe/Nick
Summary: IN-PROGRESS. AU. He never wanted anything more than a normal life, with normal parents; a normal girlfriend. But for Joe, it would never be that way. Especially now that there's someone new in his life that may change him forever. But sometimes we don't want change. And who knew you could find so much in common with someone so different? Jick/Joick. Non-incest.
Rating: T, for now.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. This is for my own entertainment, and I make no profit.
Warning(s): Two boys falling in love among other things. Don't like, don't read.
Author's Notes: Basically, I had a version of this story once upon a time posted on youtube, but I'm attempting to revamp it cause I think it sucked and my writing style has changed since I was 14. So here it goes. Enjoy, cuties.
-Carlie
X
Joe checked his watch for the umpteenth time this morning. The bus should've damn well been there already.
He started to hum one of his favorite tunes to pass the time. It kept him sane, at least.
Joe tried to sigh his stress and anxiety away and glanced around so that he might try to enjoy the scenery around him. Call it meditation.
His house was the very last on the street, and therefore the very last stop the bus arrived at. Honestly, it was just his luck.
There was another house next to Joe's that was technically the last on the street, but it was empty. No one had lived in there for as long as Joe could remember.
Finally, after what seemed like an agonizing amount of time, the bus pulled to a stop in front of Joe. He slung his backpack over one shoulder, and hopped on, nodding to the bus driver. With that, he made his way towards the back of the bus, where he knew his friend Demi had saved him a seat. Demi lived a couple of streets away from Joe, and the third musketeer, Selena, lived close enough to the school that she just walked.
The bus was unusually chatty that day; mostly girls babbling on. This fact in particular wasn't unheard of, but they seemed to exert even more energy and bubbles than usual. Most of the guys seemed all but interested. Joe plopped down next to Demi.
"What's all the commotion about?"
As soon as she acknowledged Joe next to her, she squealed.
"JOE! Did you hear?"
Her face was pink and bubbly, and she looked exceptionally made-up today. There was something Joe was certainly missing here.
"Hear what? Why are all the girls jumping out of their skins?"
She giggled, and replied, "Because! There's going to be a new kid at school tomorrow!"
Joe couldn't help but wonder why that was anything special at all. He guessed that perhaps because their small town of Harmony almost never received any new kids, because no one really ever moved there, that maybe it had something to do with having a new face in town.
"Okay... so? Why is that a big deal?"
"This is no ordinary new kid! It's Nick Jonas!"
As soon as she said it, almost all the girls on the bus screamed. God, that was awful.
"Okay, ow! Nick Jonas? Like the famous singer? Why?"
She smiled her widest smile, and exclaimed, "Who cares! He's coming to our school! Aren't you excited?!"
Rolling his eyes, Joe said, "Sure. I'm ecstatic. Don't you see it in my eyes?"
"Oh, come on Joe. You're not even a little happy that we have a celebrity moving to our community?"
He shook his head once, and said, "Nope," popping the 'p.'
"Not really. What difference does it make? It's probably just one more jerk added to our population. I actually feel bad for the community, because all the girls are going to stick to him like glue and then have their hearts ripped out."
She rolled her eyes.
"You don't know that. Maybe he's really sweet."
Joe flashed a mocking smile for her naivety.
"You only think that because he's on the cover of every teen magazine. The media has brainwashed every teenage girl in the country."
She looked down and mumbled, "He's known globally, actually."
Joe scoffed. In return, Demi looked back up at him with a glare, and said what any typical girl her age would've said.
"You're just jealous."
Joe nodded, molding his face into one of stone.
"Jealous indeed. I should be famous for my devilish good looks, not that guy!"
Joe let out a chuckle in jest while Demi punched his arm, and rolled her eyes again.
Joe got his last few laughs out and then the two chatted until the bus came to a stop at the school with a loud squeal.
Everyone raced to the doors, desperate to escape this crowded, sweaty, stuffy bus, and to get outside and greet the beautiful fresh air.
Soon, Demi met up with Selena, and so began a typical day for Joe: walking just behind his two babbling, boy-crazy best friends while shoving his hands into his pockets, staring at his shoes, and trying to drown out their teenaged, girly, fluffy talk with the musical symphony of his own thoughts. Okay, so maybe his thoughts weren't that profound, but they were better than listening to lip gloss and high heels or whatever.
Some people might say that Joe led a lonely life, considering that he seemed to hardly speak to the few friends he had. But it was enough for Joe, as long as he knew there were people that loved him; that cared.
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling class time, so the trio silently parted ways, and Joe headed towards first period.
X
Throughout the day, it seemed every class Joe went to was chalked full of jittery girls who all screamed only one name.
"Nick Jonas!" someone shouted, and before Joe could think to cover his poor ears, there was a pounding of ear-shattering shrieks.
It was only Monday around lunchtime and Joe was already sick of that name. He hadn't even arrived yet! Joe rolled his eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time and began his journey to the cafeteria, keeping his eye out for Demi and Selena.
He finally found them amongst yet another group of giggling girls, to his surprise. Oh wait, Joe wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Afraid they would be suffocated by the growing crowd, he grabbed their wrists, and pulled them away to a random lunch line.
Demi and Selena giggled, and Selena piped up, "Oh yeah, Joe! So Demi told me how you didn't seem too pepped up about…" she had to whisper so no one would scream. "Nick Jonas."
But even when she said it herself, she and Demi couldn't stop themselves from letting out, a soft, high-pitched squeal. Joe was going to cut his ears off.
"No, I'm not necessarily 'pepped up about it.'"
They grabbed their lunch trays and Selena replied, "Why not! What's so bad about a famous, amazing, hot celebrity?!"
Joe shook his head, offering a slight smile at Selena's enthusiasm.
Shrugging his shoulders, Joe said, "There's nothing really bad about it, I guess. I'm just sick of all the hype. All these girls are threatening to make me deaf."
They both had confused looks on their faces and Joe could not believe they didn't notice it.
"What do you mean?" Demi.
Joe sighed, covered his ears, and prepared for the worst.
"OMG! Nick Jonas!" he shouted.
Just as predicted, there was an earth-rattling roar of screeching teenage girls.
Demi and Selena giggled, and I continued, "I just think that we'd be better off without him, or at least without all this screaming. And besides, out of all these people screaming their love for him, he can only date one person. That's gonna hurt lots of people."
Selena shook her head.
"Oh, just let the people live their fantasies, will you?"
Joe smirked and nudged her.
"Not without a fight."
They shared a laugh and finally sat down at a table to eat their lunch.
X
Late that night, in his dream, Joe shivered as a bead of cold sweat dribbled down the back of his neck. Around him was nothingness. It was too dark to see anything, including shadows and shapes, or the moon and the stars. Just nothing.
It was freezing cold and he had to hold himself tightly to stay warm.
There was something he was supposed to be looking for, but he wasn't sure just what. He just kept pursuing his search.
With each step he took, there was a "crunch" as his foot crushed the fragile earth beneath him.
Suddenly, laughter filled the empty air in front of him, forcing pictures of smiles to burn into his memory. The laughter was contagious and Joe smiled as the giggles danced around him. The voice that they belonged to sounded so perfect, like sweet honey. It made him want to sing, so he began to hum along while they continued to chuckle.
Suddenly the laughter stopped, and Joe felt cool, sweet breath on his cheeks. He caught a tiny glimpse of the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. The lips pressed to his jaw line, and just as he was about to beg them for more, they quickly broke away from him, teasing him.
The lips whispered into his ear, "Come with me."
It was impossible for him not to obey the beckoning call.
Then to Joe's wretched dismay, a heavy, lung-filling mist formed all around him, and he could hear cries for help.
He was searching again, for hours it seemed, this time to find out where they disappeared to, but it was pointless. They were gone forever in the thick cloud of smoke, and there was nothing Joe could do.
Joe jolted awake with a tear that strained down his face as he had many times.
He had that dream quite often, actually, and still hadn't gotten over it. He still could not determine the identity of the person those lips belonged to, yet in his mind he knew they were mesmerizingly gorgeous. And they always slipped from his fingers. Always.
X