Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, etc.

Joe's POV (The Next Day)

My eyes blinked rapidly as the sunlight poured inside the room through the blinds. While yawning, I stretched and headed straight for the kitchen. I made some pancakes for myself and slapped them onto my plate. I grabbed a bottle of pure maple syrup and slathered it on my pancakes making them all wet and soggy. I looked up from my plate of soggy pancakes to find a worried-looking Miley standing next to my younger brother. Miley gave me a disturbed look that obviously questioned my taste in food. "What? It's pancakes and syrup! Thank Canada for making syrup! Do the math!" I snapped at her. Nick shot a glare at me.

"Gee, someone's a bit cranky this morning." He muttered.

"Shouldn't you guys be at school or something?" I asked wishing Nick would go away.

"Nah. Ever since yesterday's events, our parents don't want to risk it." He said.

"What happened yesterday?" I asked in a not very caring voice.

"Oh. You sound so sincere. Since you care so much why don't I pour you some lemonade to go with that sour attitude of yours?" replied Nick sarcastically. I shook my head grabbed some orange juice from the fridge instead.

Nick gave me a sour look. Miley told him something and he shook his head. Eventually, he gave up and left the room to cool off. Miley sighed and walked over to me and sat next to me while I ate. "Joe. Please excuse Nick. Yesterday was very surprising for us." She stated choosing her words carefully. My eyes widen and my jaw dropped revealing the chewed up soggy pancakes in my mouth. Miley scrunched up her nose in disgust and closed my mouth.

"Did Nick get you knocked up?" I asked curiously. Now Miley's eyes widened and shook her head furiously.

"WHAT THE HECK? Joe, this ring on my finger means something you know!" She yelled at me pointing to her purity ring. I could see Miley calming herself mentally before speaking to me again. She opened her eyes and I saw worry in them. Instinctively, my protective side was switched on.

"Miley, what happened?" I asked carefully.

"Jake threatened Nick and I last night." She whispered. I spit out the orange juice I was drinking. I grabbed some paper towels and started to wipe the table, nodding for Miley to continue. "Nick and I were just having a great time hanging out on the deck. Then two packages arrived at my house. One for me. One for Nick. My package was a single rose with a card from Jake. I assumed he was trying to break me and Nick up. Nick threw a fit. I explained to him that I couldn't have possibly be cheating on him because I spend almost every waking moment with him." She drew a deep breath. "Then an arrow was randomly darted on the wall with a note attached to it. Filled with Jake and his lousy insults and stupid lines from his show. He'll never give up, Joe." She looked at me with sad eyes.

For once, I had feeling again. Instead of moping around, I pulled Miley into a brotherly-sisterly hug. Then worry hit me. Would my Lilly-flower be safe too? She is practically Miley's sister. Jake could aim at her too. "I'm sorry, Miles." She smiled at me.

"Why are you smiling? You've been threatened by your ex and you're smiling? Why?" I asked her confused.

"Because..." She started. "...you're healing, Joe. You actually showed pure genuine emotion." Her words confused me, it was probably some kind of sentimental girl talk I wouldn't understand. I suppose what she said was true. I smiled back at her. Nick returned and instantly realized that Miley had gotten me and noticed how calm I was.

"Miley, why are you hugging my brother?" He cried in a mocking jealous tone. He was joking. Miley and I pulled away. Miley skipped happily towards Nick and whispered something in his ear. A sudden grin appeared on Nick's face. Ugh. More lovey-dovey stuff.

"Uh..." I said feeling a bit uncomfortable. "...three's a crowd so I'm just going to leave." I backed out of the room slowly, once they were out of sight I jumped into my car. I only needed to see her face again. Make sure she was safe.

--

I was never good at disguises, so here I am hiding in a bush outside Lilly's house. She was watching a movie with a tub of ice cream. Nothing was wrong. I sighed a sigh of relief. Lilly's safe. Thank God. Matt came out from Lilly's kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. I hate Matt. He sat next to Lilly and held her tight. I hated the fact that I used to be the one Lilly would snuggle up to. I hated that he is able to hold her like that.

Matt looked smug holding her. Jealousy raged inside of me, I knew I couldn't make her happy anymore. "Damnit." I whispered. I miss her.

Lilly showed no emotion, though she never returned any of Matt's affection. There's still hope for me.

--

(One week later)

It's been a week. I think I'm going crazy, I've been hiding near Lilly's house everyday to check on her. I'm such a stalker. Why can't I just call? Because I don't have the guts. I felt something poking my back and I slowly turned around to see who it was. "WHOA!" I yelled jumping out of the bush. I fell into the snow.

"Joe, what are you doing here?" The person half-yelled.

"I-I...I could ask you the same thing." I replied trying to cover up.

"Joe, you've been coming here for a week now. Why don't you just call Lilly already?"

"Because I-I...I just can't, Oliver." I said defeated. Then, he took a step towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Dude, get a grip. You think you don't have the guts to call her but you do! Besides, if you guys make up now then you'll be able to have a happy holiday! Christmas is just around the corner you know." said Oliver. I pondered the idea and started to shake my head. Oliver dragged me to the front door and rang the doorbell.

"Damnit, Oken. What do you think you're doing?" I asked furiously.

"I'm trying to get you guys to AT LEAST be friends again. Besides, I don't trust that Marshall kid. He creeps me out." replied Oliver.

"Sorry. I'm not ready." I mumbled and began to walk off. Oliver jerked me back to the front door and ran off just as Lilly opened the door. I saw her beautiful blond hair. Her eyes a bit red and puffy, but still gorgeous. What was I supposed to say? It started to snow.

"What do you want, Joe?" She asked timidly. The ring of her voice spent shivers down my spine leaving me unable to speak.

"I-I, uh..." I stuttered like a lovesick dope. Lilly giggled a little, then her smile vanished.

"Don't make me laugh, I'm still mad at you." I could tell in her voice she was about to crack into laughter. "Joseph, what do you want from me?" She asked sternly. I looked into her eyes.

"Lilly, give me a minute to explain, please." I begged. She sighed.

"Fine. Only because it's Christmas!" She answered.

"Okay, first of all, I never meant to hurt you at all! That kiss wasn't intentional. Lilly, hurting you is the LEAST thing I would ever want to do. Every hurtful thing I said during our fight, I meant it only because I wanted you to understand how I felt too. Breaking us up was the worst thing I could do and I did it. That's what I regret doing the most. Lilly, I'm going to look into your eyes and truly mean what I say." I looked deeply into my eyes before telling her what my heart felt. "You mean the world to me, Lilly. When we went our separate ways, I never looked at another girl. At night, I always looked at the picture of us on my bedside. I never realized how much I loved you until we hurt each other. I never felt this way before. You may not know it, but you have SO much control over me. As cheesy as it may sound, I'd go to the ends of the earth for you. Lillian Rosalyn Truscott, I love you with all my heart. I'm in love with you and I'll never fall out. I'm so sorry for everything! I'd do anything to make you happy and just to see you smile." I took a deep breath and waited for her answer. I broke eye contact with her and looked at my feet. I felt my cheeks burning turning into a deep red.

I sighed and felt slightly embarassed upon my proclaimation of love for Lilly. It was silent between us. Nothing was heard except for our deep breathing. "Well, I said everything I could say." I muttered. I started to walk off her porch.

"Wait." She said. I froze and turned around to find her walking up to me. "Joe...that has to be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." Lilly said shyly. I smiled a little.

"I'm in love with you too, Joe." My heart skipped a beat. My mind was racing. I would've screamed for joy, but now wasn't the right time to do that. My smile grew wide and big beaming at the woman in front of me. During our time apart, we both grew a little spiritually. What was I supposed to do next? Lilly's eyes were dancing happily as she inched closer to me. She crashed her lips onto mine. Gosh, how I missed her sweet scent and those luscious lips of hers. I held her tight trying to keep her warm. When we broke apart, I kissed her head as we hugged as if there were no tomorrow. "I missed you, my Lilly-pad."

"I missed you too, Joeybear." My world was complete.

--

Later, we were snuggling on her couch drinking some hot chocolate. Typical winter day. "So, do you want to tell everyone we're together again? Or keep it low for now?" I asked. She smiled at me.

"Let's let everyone else figure it out for themselves. Besides, once Miley knows about us she'll never leave us alone." She laughed. I laughed with her. Then I stopped realizing we had a small problem.

"Lilly. Not to ruin our quality time or anything but, what about...Marshall?" I asked sneering at his name. Lilly laughed at me.

"You're so cute when you're jealous." She teased. I laughed.

"Well, I am pretty good-looking aren't I?" I joked. We smiled, then Lilly explained how she knew it wouldn't work out with Matt anyways. She was too hung up over me. She saved him the pain. That's my Lilly, always thinking about others...most of the time. My cellphone started ringing. I checked the caller ID, Nick. I shushed Lilly reminding her what we had agreed on earlier.

"Hey Nick. What's happening?" I greeted happily.

"Joe! Where the heck are you? Let me guess, you were at the gym again like you have been for the past week." said Nick.

"Uh, yeah! I was at the gym...again. Why are you so worried?" I asked. I pretended to flex my muscles in front of Lilly and she giggled quietly.

"Well, you're normally home by now, Joe. What's taking so long?" He questioned.

"Um, uh, I-I decided to go for another mile on the treadmill! Yeah, that's it. The treadmill." I replied stuttering. Lilly giggled a bit louder.

"Another mile, huh? Okay. By the way, what's that sound in the background? It sounds like a girl...oh my gosh! I'm sorry for interrupting your, um, flirt time or whatever, man. I didn't think you'd be back in the game so soon after Lil-" I cut him off. I laughed.

"It's okay, man. And I'm not flirting with anyone right now. Just me and my muscles working out at the gym. Oh yeah!" I joked. Lilly rolled her eyes at me as I smiled happily at her.

"Sure...whatever you say Joe..." Nick said uncertain. We said our goodbyes and hung up. Lilly burst into laughter. I stared at her wondering what was so funny.

"Lilly, babe, what's so funny?" I asked. She continued laughing. I assumed she was having one of her random laughing fits.

"J-J-Just the thought...o-of y-y-y-y-you w-working out in the, the gym! HA!" laughed the blonde beauty in front of me. She wiped away her tears of laughter and calmed down.

"So, Joey...whose the 'girl' you were supposedly 'flirting with at the gym'?" She asked looking up at me with those crystal blue eyes.

"Won't say. It's a secret." I played along. Lilly playfully played my arm.

"Tell me!" She whined.

"You." I answered. She awed and leaned in for a short and sweet kiss. Then something popped into my mind and I smiled.

"Did you get a love letter in locker last week?" I asked.

"Yes, I did. Nick and Miley are horrible at forging our signatures." She laughed. I smiled.

"They have the weirdest hiding spots for them too. I found my 'love leter' in my shoe." I replied. Lilly raised an eyebrow at me wondering if I was serious.

"What? It's true." We laughed together. Soon after, I left Lilly's house knowing if I stayed any longer, my brothers would get suspicious. Once in my room inspiration hit me, I instantly had a song pop up in my head. While writing the song, I had the perfect idea for Lilly's Christmas gift.

OMJ! I has risen from the graveyard of the LOST WRITERS! LOL I'm DEEPLY sorry for being so much like a hermit and not updating like I should be. High school has that effect on me, pulling me away from my awesome world of Fanfiction! :O Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck by me in the story. I have an idea of how it will end. Now tell, aren't you happy the LOE is back together? OMJ! I was smiling while writing it! Please REVIEW! Reviews mean a whole lot to me! I love you guys! OMG! You guys, I'm TOTALLY PUMPED FOR THE LOVEBUG VIDEO coming out tonight! Who's watching it? I am! :D

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- SweetSerenityPeacexRose