Jesse had looked almost everywhere for Joey. It was unlike him to be late for a radio show, but he had spent too much time looking for him already, and went down to the basement to start setting up for the days' show. "Hey, Danny!" Jesse yelled as he got all the music ready for the show.
"Yeah," Danny asked as he came down the stairs to see what his friend wanted.
"Have you seen Joseph this morning?" Jesse asked as he ran a sound check.
"No, sorry," Danny said. "Haven't seen him."
"Well, could you do me a favor, and go see if you can find him? If he's not down here in ten minutes, we'll be late." Danny was relieved that it was Saturday, or he'd be later for his own show, Wake up, San Francisco.
"Yeah," Danny said, and ran back up stairs to find Joey.
Joey groaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head, and woke up with a start when he felt a soft, warm body in bed with him. DJ whimpered softly, and cuddled close to him as he tried to piece together what happened last night. God, never O.D. on Rocky and Bullwinkle, he thought with a shake of his head. He sat there, gazing down at her in an attempt to remember what all had happened between them, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or scared that he didn't remember more than kissing her, or holding her in his arms. DJ moaned softly as he shifted, and opened her sleepy brown eyes to look at him. "Morning," she said softly, and leaned up to kiss him.
"DJ," Joey said, his tone laced with panic. "N-nothing happened between us, did it?" He sighed and ran his hands through his sleep tussled hair when she looked at him in confusion. "I-I mean, we didn't do anything – stupid – did we?"
She relaxed, and smiled at him. "Like having sex?" DJ purred, and Joey nodded, his fear increasing at her tone. Her smile widened when she saw him pale slightly, and shook her head. "No," she said gently, and he sighed in relief, his color returning.
"Oh, shit!" Joey cursed when he looked at the clock. "Jesse's gonna kill me!" He rolled from bed, and hurriedly pulled on a pair of pants, when the door opened.
"Joe," Danny broke off at the scene before him. DJ was sitting up on Joey's bed, looking rather sleep tussled in appearance, and Joey had his pants half on. Joey and DJ turned in fear, and froze. Danny recovered from his shock quickly, and now looked ready to kill. "Get out," he said in a firm, deadly quiet voice.
"Danny," Joey said, but DJ cut him off.
"Dad, it's not what you think," she said in a pleading voice.
"Get out!" Danny roared. "Get out now! DJ, go to your room!" DJ looked to Joey fearfully and saw him nod. She climbed quickly from the bed, and edged around her father. Danny watched her go, and then turned his attention back to Joey. "How dare you!" Danny seethed. "Get out now! I don't want to see you in this house again!"
"Danny!" Joey cried, trying to make himself heard.
"I want you gone by this afternoon," Danny said, trying to control his anger. "And you aren't to speak to her again; none of them again. Hurry up, I'd hate for you to miss your last show," he said quickly before turning to leave, slamming the door behind him.
Rebecca had heard the yelling, and laying down some toys to keep the twins busy, rushed down to see what was going on. "Joey?" Rebecca asked when she saw Joey come out of his room, heading downstairs quickly.
"Not now, Rebecca," he said, then paused with a sigh, his shoulders sagging heavily. "Would you go check on DJ for me?" Joey asked, and looked at her imploringly. "I gotta get downstairs. Apparently, it's my last show."
"What do you mean, your last show?" Rebecca asked, but Joey shook his head.
"I'll explain later," he said. "Just, please, check on her for me?"
"Alright," Rebecca said, and turned to head to DJ's room, wondering what was going on.
"Thanks," Joey called, and continued downstairs, heading for the basement.
"DJ?" Becky called as she knocked on the door to the girl's room, but she got no response. "Deej?" Rebecca tried again, opening the door a crack.
"Go away," came DJ's muffled cry.
"DJ," Becky said softly as she ignored the girl's demand, and entered, closing the door behind her. "Joey asked me to check on you," she admitted. "Can I ask what's going on?" DJ just buried her head in her pillow and sobbed. "DJ, please?" Rebecca tried again, as she sat on the edge of the girl's bed.
"D-dad kicked Joey out," DJ sobbed.
"What?" Becky asked in shock. "Why?"
"Because of me," DJ cried, and threw herself in Becky's arms, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"What do you mean, because of you?" Becky asked in a gentle, curious tone.
Over the next few minutes, DJ told her aunt all that had happened the day before up until she excused herself from dinner. "Well, sweetie," Becky said softly. "Joey's right, anyone would be crazy to choose anyone over you. But, how does that explain you're dad kicking him out?"
DJ took a deep breath and lowered her head. "Because I stayed in his room last night," DJ said softly. "Dad walked in on us together."
"Y-you slept with him?" Rebecca cried in surprise.
"No," DJ said. "Well, technically yes, but nothing happened. W-we just kissed a little," DJ said nervously.
"You kissed?" Becky cried, as though it was the worst thing she'd ever heard.
"Well," DJ said, making a face. "I started it. But, I swear to you Aunt Becky, it didn't go any further than that."
Becky sighed and shook her head. "DJ, I'm not going to condone what you did, he's a lot older than you are, and your dad has a right to do what he did because of it." Becky rushed on when she saw a look of hurt and betrayal cross the girl's face. "But, on the other hand," she said softly. "You are an adult now, and he's no right to treat you like a child, even if you are living in this house. Hell, Jesse and I live here."
"Thanks Aunt Becky," DJ said smiling slightly.
"Now," Becky said, her brown eyes sparkling. "Tell me, is he a good kisser?" DJ blushed and Becky smiled knowingly. "Do you have feelings for him? Or was it just a rebound action?" Becky asked, looking at her in concern.
"No," DJ said as she dried her eyes. "It wasn't a rebound." She sighed as she thought back to the events of the night before. "I do have feelings for him, Aunt Becky," she said softly. "I thought about it a lot last night, through dinner and before I went to his room. I think – no," DJ said and shook her head, and Becky looked at her curiously. "I know that I love him. I know you'd say it's too soon for that, too soon since Scott, but in truth, I've always loved him. He's always been there for me, no matter what, and I was looking for his qualities in the boys I dated."
"You didn't find them, huh?" Becky asked sadly.
"Well, I thought I did, that's why I dated them, but no, I didn't," DJ confirmed. "Then, last night, while I was thinking about it, it dawned on me. Why look for the qualities I like about Joey in someone else, when he's right here in front of me. True, he might be a little older than me, but he cares about me, and dad trusts him – err, did trust him." Rebecca nodded, heartbroken and on the rebound or not, DJ had thought this through clearly. "Oh, Aunt Becky!" DJ cried, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "What am I going to do?"
Rebecca took the girl in her arms and planted a kiss on her hair. "I don't know, but we'll think of something."
Jesse was confused, and utterly at a loss. The radio show was a shambles today and he had no idea why. Well, he knew why, Joey wasn't his usual cheerful, happy-go-lucky self today, and that was really, what Jesse was so confused over. Jesse was no comedian, and his attempts to salvage the quirky parts of the show only made it worse. Finally, their hour was over and Jesse took them off the air. He had tried to get Joey to talk during commercial breaks and off the air during their music selections, but Joey was uncharacteristically calm. Later, was all the man had told him when he'd asked what was wrong.
"Alright," Jesse said as he took off his headphones, giving Joseph the bad cop glare. "Spill it. What's bugging you?"
"Danny," Joey said in an angry voice.
"What about him?" Jesse asked, as though this was nothing new to him. Danny had always been a thorn in his side, but had tolerated his pompous, perfectionist ways because his sister, Pam had loved him and brought three adorable girls into the world. It was because of his nieces that he agreed to move in and help Danny raise them when his sister died, not because he liked Danny.
"As always," Joey said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "He's jumping to conclusions before knowing all the facts."
Jesse chuckled. Yes, that was Danny all over. When he sobered again, Jesse asked, "Facts? Facts about what?"
Joey made a pleading face. He knew Jesse could fly off the handle just as fast as Danny, and then some. "Promise you'll hear me out, and not go on a rampage like Danny?" Joey asked as he leaned forward in his chair, steepling his fingers as he rested his forearms on his knees.
Hmm, Jesse thought. Whatever this is, it's big if he thinks I'll act like Daniel did, however that was. "Yeah," Jesse said. "Now come on, out with it." But, Joey just looked at him. "Oh, alright!" Jesse cried in aggravation. "I promise."
"Danny kicked me out," Joey said. "This was my last show."
"What!" Jesse screamed, rising to his feet. "Why?"
"Jesse, sit down," Joey said.
"You've got to be kidding me," Jesse said. "I'm going to go find him and wring his scrawny, little, Mr. Clean wannabe, neck. He can't kick you out! He's messing with my career, as well as my friend if he does."
"Jesse," Joey said. "Please, sit down. I haven't told you everything, and you promised not to be like this."
Jesse sat down slowly, and exhaled deeply, willing his anger at the situation to dissipate. "All right, Joseph," he said, when he finally felt relaxed. "Let's have it."
Joey sighed, and lowered his head. "Danny walked in on us this morning," he mumbled, not looking Jesse in the eye.
"Us?" Jesse asked in confusion, and Joey nodded. "Us who?"
"Me and DJ," Joey said, chancing a look at Jesse. "She stayed in my room last night."
"You and DJ?" Jesse yelled. "I can't believe this. You and DJ? You slept with your niece?"
Joey sighed heavily. He should have known Jesse couldn't keep to his promise on something like this. "Jess, will you hear me out?" Joey asked, looking at him with a pleading expression.
"There's more?" Jesse asked, utterly astounded, and sighing, sat down once more, when he remembered that he'd promised.
"First of all, no, I didn't sleep with my niece, because she's not my niece, she's yours. She's the daughter of one of my best friends, and she's an adult," Joey said. "And secondly, I only slept with her in the technical sense, as in nothing happened between us but me holding her, and a few kisses."
Jesse nodded as he exhaled heavily. Joey was right; he wasn't really related to DJ, so there was no real problem there. As far as he was concerned, she was fair game. Jesse growled at the thought of DJ being looked at in that manner and shook his head. No, he knew Joseph, and he wasn't like that. He truly cared for her, and had ever since she was a baby. This thought sent a shiver down Jesse's spine, it made Joey look like a paedophile, and that wasn't him either. "All right, Joseph," he said. "You said Danny walked in on you." Joey nodded. "What exactly were you doing?"
"DJ was wearing that oversized shirt of hers, was sitting on my bed with the blankets wrapped around her, and I was in the process of pulling up my pants," Joey answered truthfully. "Oh, come on, Jess," he said in disbelief at the look of surprise he got from Jesse. "You know I sleep in my boxers. I was already in them when she came in."
"Hmm," Jesse said. "And why was she there?"
"She said she couldn't sleep," Joey said. "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but it probably had to do with her break up with Scott yesterday."
"So, you caught her on the rebound?" Jesse asked in disbelief. "Joseph," Jesse said as he stood up and walked over to Joey, placing his hands on Joey's shoulders and bending down by his ear. "You know you don't catch chicks on the rebound, not unless all you're interested in is sex."
"Jesse!" Joey cried in horror. "You know me better than that! I would never use DJ like that. Besides, she's the one who initiated the kissing. I was just trying to be there for moral support after her break up."
"Ok, ok," said Jesse, shaking his head, and waving his arms a thought to erase a mental image. He sighed heavily and resumed his seat. "Joseph, how do you feel about DJ?"
"Jesse," Joey said in a pleading voice. "You know I've always cared about her, just as I have Steph and Michelle."
"You're not answering the question, Joseph, but never mind," Jesse continued.
"It doesn't matter how I feel about her anyway," Joey said sadly.
"What? What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Jesse asked. "Why wouldn't it matter?"
"Because he said I'm not to speak with her any more," Joey said. "Or the girls."
"He what?" Jesse asked in disbelief. "God, I can't believe that Daniel would do something this stupid. Oh, wait," he said, as though a thought just struck him. "Yes, I can. All right, Joseph," Jesse said. "I want you to tell me how you feel about DJ."
"What does it matter," Joey said forlornly. "I've nothing to offer her, and I've no place to live now." He sighed once more, and rose to his feet, looking tired. "I guess I'll have to call my mom, ask her if I can stay there until I'm able to find a place."
"Joseph!" Jesse said, raising his voice to cut off his friend's tirade. "Just tell me!"
Joey sighed and looked back at him sadly. "I don't know how I feel about her, Jess," he said truthfully. "I know I care about her, and I hate seeing her get hurt. She's been there for me, to pull me through all my heartaches as I have with her, and I don't feel like I have to pretend to be anything I'm not around her, like I have so many times with the women I dated. She knows the real me, and she cares about me. That's all I know."
Jesse nodded, smiling at his friend. He knew, even if Joey had yet to figure it out, that he was truly in love with DJ. He sobered and looked up at his friend. "Alright, you go do what you have to, and I'll see if I can smooth things over with Daniel. Just leave me a way to contact you; I'll kill him if he tries to screw with you or my career. I need you, pal."
"Jess," Joey said. "Don't cause trouble for you and Rebecca."
"I won't," Jesse said. "Don't worry about it, just go make your call, and take care of yourself." Joey nodded numbly and turned to head upstairs to pack.