A/N: This was written for my 31 Days of Shipping prompt, A Ship You're Ashamed Of. These two are one of my guilty pleasure loves and I can't wait for season three to premire.

Beta work was done by Grammarly. The only thing I own in this little tale is the plot.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Love always,
~starr

Love took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she refused to look up at him. She knew what would happen if she did, and the two of them would never be the same. She could feel his hand cupping her cheek, slowly making its way down to her chin, forcing her face in his general direction. Try as she might, Love attempted to force herself to keep her eyes shut. However, it didn't take long for her body to give into him.

Slowly her eyes fluttered open, drifting up to his, and it was over.

His lips caught hers in a hard kiss, driving them apart with the force of it. There was nothing gentle about it. Love felt the door rattle against her back as Joe shifted, pressing her against it as she took his face between his hands. Every thought in her head exploded to pure, pounding white, and she felt the dark curl of desire beginning to twist inside of her, bending all of her rules, snapping every last bit of restraint. Love tried one last time to pull away.

"No," he said, bringing her lips back to his. It was just like it had been before - Love slid her hand under his jacket to press him closer. The low groan at the back of his throat, a slight, pleading noise that set every inch of her skin on fire.

"Let's take this somewhere," Love paused between chaste kisses along Joe's jaw, "more private."

His eyes flickered as though her words ignited a flame deep inside of him. Love's lips turned up into a smirk as she interlaced her fingers with his and pulled him toward the side door of Anavrin. Joe looked her up and down as he followed close behind her, pausing only momentarily to glance behind him to make sure no one was following them. With a wicked smile pulling at the corners of his lips, he pulled the door shut behind them and chased Love into the kitchen. As he caught up to her, Joe wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

"Hold on," Love whispered, pushing him away from her as she made her way through the kitchen to the central part of the store.

"What are you doing?" Joe hissed, readjusting his belt before sliding his jacket off and placing it on the counter beside him.

"I'm making sure that no one is here," she replied, glancing back over her shoulder with a smile when she noticed him loosening his shirt. "Don't get too far ahead of me."

Joe winked as he watched her. "It's late. There's no one here except the two of us so let's make the most of it."

"As enticing as that invitation sounds," Love began, "Forty likes to come here as a place to hide out when the party scene gets to be too much for him. I just want to make sure that we are really alone."

"So what if Forty's here?" Joe replied with a shrug, leaning back against the island. "I thought you enjoyed it when people watched you find your release."

Love narrowed her eyes at him over her shoulder. "That's different," she chastised, shaking her head as she rounded the corner to the far side of the store. "You walking in on me pleasuring myself is not the same as my brother listening to me have sex with the guy who he thinks broke my heart over the girl who broke his heart."

"Why did you have to bring Candace into this?" Joe groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. He pushed away from the island and made his way out of the kitchen, letting out a heavy sigh. He noticed Love walking around the far side of the store, so he decided to check the books' aisles. Forty had been known to pass out in the nonfiction every so often after a bender.

As he neared the third aisle of books, Joe heard heavy breathing coming from the next row over. Joe rolled his eyes as he rounded the corner. Much to his disappointment, he found a naked Forty lying in the middle of the aisle passed out in a pool of his own vomit. Shaking his head, Joe knelt down and checked for a pulse. The last thing he wanted to do was call Love over here to find her brother, not only naked but also dead. Once he found a pulse, Joe let out a sigh of relief and rolled Forty onto his back before walking away to put an early end to his plans for the evening.

"Love," Joe called, carding a hand through his hair. "I found him. You might want to grab a blanket off the couch."

"Is he naked again?" she groaned, hurrying across the store, pausing only to grab a blanket off the couch.

Joe nodded, reaching out of the blanket to make Forty decent before Love had to get an eye-full of him as she rounded the corner.

Love shook her head and brushed past him. "I've seen him in worse situations than this. Honestly, I'm happy he's naked this time. After the woman he dated before Candance dumped him, I had to bring him home from a party in some woman's thong," she sighed, dropping the blanket over his waist. Love rested her hands on her hips as she watched him sleep for a few moments, shaking her head. "Forty, what did you do this time?"

Joe watched her for a few moments; the way she cared for him pulled on his heartstrings, but only briefly. He wished she cared for him the way she seemed to care about Forty. He shook his head, pushing the jealousy aside as he turned on his heels and made his way back to the kitchen. He gathered a few bottles of water out of the fridge and grabbed his jacket. If they were going to get Forty out of here with a portion of his dignity, then they were going to need more than a blanket to drape around his waist.

"Here," Joe huffed, offering her two bottles of water. "He's going to need this when we wake him up. It looks like all of the liquids he threw up any liquids he may have ingested this evening."

"Thanks," Love replied, offering him a smile as she took the bottles from him. "I'm sorry this evening isn't going to end the way that we planned."

"Family comes first," Joe said, lowering himself down to take a seat next to her as they watched Forty sleep off the rest of his evening endeavors. As much as he hated having to share Love's attention, especially after the start of their evening, Joe had to admit that watching her care for him made him feel something deep down inside for her. He couldn't place his finger on the feeling, but there was certainly something there.