X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 7: Hold up
Joe was not a morning person. In fact, Joe wasn't much of a night owl either. But there was one person whom he wouldn't mind talking to at any time of day - Olivia. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he wanted her to make a habit of calling at 3 in the morning.
"Hello?" he asked groggily, fingers still tingling from grabbing his vibrating phone. He was silent for a moment, not receiving a response. "Liv?"
"Hey, are you ok?" she asked suddenly, sounding wide awake and a little nervous.
"Well, I'm a little sleepy, but other than that, fine." he said, rubbing his eyes absent mindedly. "Why?"
"Oh, um..." she stuttered, suddenly sheepish.
"C'mon, you can tell me..." Joe meant to say it with a teasing tone, but it came out more gentle than anything, considering the fact that he was still half asleep.
"I just...well, I had a nightmare." she sighed. "And I just couldn't go back to sleep until I was positive you were ok. I know it's weird, but..."
"Hey, it's totally cool." Joe said, his heart doing a strange mix of the cha-cha slide and the macarena. "You good to go now?"
"Yea," she said, giving a soft laugh. "thanks. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Technically, later today." he pointed out. Oh, he's even got it going on at 3 in the morning!
Liv laughed again. "I suppose so. Peace out, Joe." she said softly.
"Ok, bye Liv." he replied, setting his phone on the nightstand. However, try as he might, he couldn't seem to be able to fall back asleep. He tossed and turned, counted sheep and mooses (or was it meese?), and did those odd deep breathing exercises they learned at Tai Chi. Nothing worked. He then decided that he needed a snack - food always helped him feel sleepy! Ok, well, it sometimes did...anyway, he then wandered out of his room, meandering down the hallway. But when he was around the corner from the kitchen, he heard rustling. It was past three in the morning, so everyone would be asleep - gasp! Someone had broken into the house and was in the kitchen! There was more rustling, and Joe vowed to himself that if the thief even touched his banana nut muffins...there was going to be trouble.
He heard the intruder shuffling towards the door. The moment was now - there was no time for Joe to get his dad, or even Nick or Kevin. Luckily he'd been working out lately - this wouldn't be a problem. He jumped the intruder, shoving him into the wall with a grunt. He thought he had him pinned, but then the the intruder started fighting back! It ended up being a full out brawl on the kitchen floor, and it didn't help that a closed bottle of soda rolling around on the floor kept painfully getting in Joe's way. Joe soon stopped the scuffle when a slice of cold pizza slapped him across the face; he rushed over to the wall and flicked on the lights, shocked at who it was.
"Kevin?" he asked.
"Joe?" Kevin answered. Suddenly, Mrs. Jonas padded into the kitchen, her eyes half closed.
"Boys?" she said.
"Mom?" they asked in unison. She shook her head tiredly.
"I'm going back to bed." she groaned, walking off again. Joe and Kevin faced each other again.
"What are you doing up?" Kevin asked.
"What are you doing up?" Joe retorted.
"I asked you first!" Kevin said.
"Whatever, mine had more emotion in it!" Joe responded.
"That's true." Kevin submitted. "I just couldn't sleep. I mean, I'm usually up late, but not this late. Your turn."
"Olivia called me cause she had a nightmare and needed to see if I was ok." Joe said. He noticed it sounded a tad ridiculous when he said it outloud, but he still thought it was kind of cool.
"For shiz? Did you die or something?"
"No idea, she didn't actually tell me." Joe said after thinking for a moment.
"Wait, so she called you and woke you up at three in the morning, made sure you were ok, and went back to sleep without even telling you what happened in her dream that made her so worried?" Kevin summed up, even though the summary ended up being longer than the explanation.
"Yep." Joe said, shrugging. "So, why can't you sleep?"
Kevin sighed. "I'm not quite sure."
"You can't lie to me, bro. I've got a built in seismograph." Joe said, tapping the side of his head.
"A seismograph doesn't...nevermind." Kevin shook his head, jumping up to sit on the island. Joe jumped up next to him.
"C'mon, Kev, what's up?" Joe asked, a serious look on his face as he faced his brother. Kevin sighed again.
"You remember Jessica Keaton?" he asked.
"That girl you dated a couple years ago? Oh yea, she was cool." Joe said, furrowing his brows. "Whatever happened to her?"
"She said she didn't want to put us through the strain of living separate lives while being together, so she suggested we kind of...put it off."
"'Put it off'?" Joe asked, puzzled.
"Yea." Kevin shrugged. "Like, take a break for a while. Anyway, so we've kind of semi-kept in touch over the past couple years, but she called me today and said that she was in SoCal and wanted to get together - kind of catch up, I guess."
"Well," Joe said, pausing to think for a moment. "Do you want to see her again?"
"See, that's what I don't know." Kevin said, sounding frustrated. "Part of me would do almost anything just to be able to see her in person again, but the other part of me doesn't want to get my hopes up, you know?"
Joe thought for another moment. "Well, dude, I don't quite know what to tell you. I want to say go, just to see what's going on. I mean, you're meeting as friends, yea?"
"Yea, as far as I know." Kevin said, nodding.
"Ok, so go and just be her friend. Talk to her. See what's the delio, yo." Joe said. Kevin rolled his eyes, smiling.
"Alright." he said. "When did you get so good with this stuff?"
"Shoot girl, I've always been good at this. I know everything about anything ever, because I'm Joseph Jonas! (1)" Joe said. "Anyway, while we're both awake, you up for a Madden tournament?"
"Not now, dude. I haven't had the advantage of a few hours of sleep like some people." Kevin said. "Thanks though, bro."
"No problem, brotha. Peace out." Joe said as Kevin wandered out after grabbing his discarded soda. He then sat on the island alone, trying to remember why he came downstairs in the first place.
The next day, Liv decided that the two of them should go to the park and frolick in the fresh spring sunshine. And by frolick, she meant run around for a few minutes before cuddling underneath a nearby oak tree, watching Elvis wander around aimlessly, sniffing everything in reach.
"Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." she said suddenly, sitting up from leaning against his shoulder, his arm dropping casually behind her. Joe's heart started beating a little faster - did anything good come from words like that?
"Um...ok. What?" he asked, stuttering slightly. She took a deep breath.
"Will you go to prom with me?" she said, an endearing half-smile on her face.
"...Huh?" Joe asked, blinking rapidly. Whew, he was safe for another day, it seemed.
"You. Prom. With me." she said again, raising her eyebrows. "What did you think?"
"Oh, um...nothing." Joe said, shaking his head. "Well, I would absolutely love to go to prom with you - but isn't the guy supposed to ask the girl?"
"Well, yea, but you didn't know about my prom, and it's coming up in a couple weeks, so I thought I'd just go ahead and ask." she explained.
"That just isn't acceptable!" he said gallantly. "We will go together, yes. But I am going to ask you, and it's going to be in a completely extravagant and slightly embarrassing way."
"For the love, what are you going to do?" she asked, eyeing him warily.
"That, my dear, is a secret." he responded, holding his finger up to his lips in the "shh" signal.
"You don't know yet, do you?" it was more of a statement than a question.
"No, I don't, but rest assured that it'll be great." he covered. She smiled, returning to her previous position as the dog continued to ramble all over the park.
It was true that Joe had no idea how he was going to ask Liv, but he was certain that it was going to be amazing. He didn't ask for advice from anyone - for once, he wanted to do something all by himself. And so he sat in his room until a plan was formed. And the best part? Liv would be caught completely off guard!
So, on that Friday, which was exactly two weeks and one day away from prom, the plan was set into action. There was a pep rally for the seniors that had played Varsity sports, so Joe made a deal with the head cheerleader. He waited outside the gym doors where the pep rally was taking place, making sure to stay out of sight as he watched the various seniors talking with the audience and playing a game designed by the cheerleaders. Finally, his moment came.
"Ok, before we whip out the school song," Latisha, the head cheerleader, began. "there's one last thing that needs to be done. Could Olivia Haddocks please make her way over here?"
Olivia looked at her friends, wondering what was going on. She got up from the floor where all the seniors were and walked over to where Latisha was standing in front of the audience. Even though she didn't speak into the microphone, the audience could tell that she had asked what was going on.
"Well, Liv," Latisha said, placing an arm around her shoulders and effectively hid Joe from view as he snuck in behind them. The audience immediately began whispering, wondering what the rock star was doing at their pep rally. "there seems to be a certain someone that wants to ask you something." she finished mysteriously, moving out of the way and exposing Joe. Her hands flew to her cheeks as her face broke into a large grin, a blush edging its way in.
"Olivia," he said, taking the microphone and her hand and going down on one knee, whipping out a rose. She laughed at his overdramatics, and he struggled holding in his laughter as well. "will you go to prom with me?"
The crowd laughed and awwed as Liv smiled and nodded, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him soundly. Applause followed as Latisha ended the pep rally with the school song, and the people let out for the day. Joe walked out to the student parking lot with Liv, her hand intertwined with his.
"I can't believe you just did that." she said, still smiling, as they got into her car.
"I told you, extravagant and slightly embarrassing." Joe replied. "And you're also kind of a superstar now!"
Liv laughed. "Well, I'm more of a superstar by association. You have no idea how many freshman and sophomore girls asked me if I could hook them up with a live performance from the Jonas Brothers for their sweet sixteens."
"And you said...?"
"I said I'd see what I could do. But I'm pretty sure I'll have to make a few dozen excuses in the next month before I graduate." she said, rolling her eyes. Joe laughed, deciding that this was definitely a good idea.
The next day, Joe slept in and spent the day having a Halo tournament with his brothers. Liv, however, was involved in another predicament altogether.
"Is there not a single dress in all of SoCal?!" she cried, collapsing in a chair outside a cafe.
"Don't worry, Liv." Miley said, carefully placing her bags in a place where they couldn't be stolen. "We'll find that dress for you!"
"Thanks for coming with me, Miley. I know you probably had something you wanted to do with Nick." Liv said, giving her friend and neighbor a smile.
"It was no big, really." Miley said, waving a hand.
"What I don't get, though, is why our only item to find was my prom dress, and yet you have roughly a hundred bags worth of stuff that you bought!"
Miley shrugged. "I can't help it if every store we went into had extremely cute stuff." she said, raising her hands in innocence. Liv rolled her eyes, and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon running around what seemed all of California before finding exactly what they were looking for.
"Girl, Joe ain't gonna know what hit 'em." Miley said, eyeing Liv in the dress.
"You think so?" she asked, suddenly self conscious.
"Of course! You're hot like Uncle Earl's fire-inducing buffalo chicken wings." she replied, excited that they had finally found what she was looking for - now it was up to Joe to stay up with the standard.
Exactly two weeks later, Joe was on his way to Liv's in a limo, playing with the wrapper around the corsage he had gotten for her. She had laughed and insisted they go all out - after all, she reasoned, it was her senior prom. He arrived after a few minutes, Linda letting him in, as Liv was still getting ready.
"Oh, hold on, I need to go find the camera." she said, running off and leaving Joe alone with Tyler, who turned and looked at him seriously.
"I expect you to respect Olivia tonight." he said with as much eloquence as a 5-year-old can muster.
"Huh?" Joe said, surprised.
"You are to have her home at a reasonable time, and if even a hair on her head is out of place..." Tyler continued.
"Dude, where are you getting this from?" Joe asked, laughing.
"TV." Tyler said, shrugging and stuffing his small hands into his pockets.
"Do you even know half of what you said?"
"Not really."
"Well, I promise to be respectful anyway." Joe said, giving the boy a high five as Linda came back in.
"Ok, I'm ready." she said, a little breathless. "OLIVIA! HONEY, LET'S GO!" she called up the stairs.
"Yea, yea, I'm coming." Liv said, quickly coming down the stairs. Miley was right - Joe was completely dumbstruck. The blue, satin-y material of the halter, knee-length dress seemed to make her positively glow, her blue eyes sparkling. Her normally strait hair tumbled down her back in loopy, blonde curls that bounced with her movement. Joe suddenly knew why Nick had been in such a stupor when they had first met Miley that day at the studio.
"Wow." Joe breathed. "You look...wow."
"You like it?" she asked, biting her lip.
"You look beatiful." he said, wrapping his arms around her.
"Thanks, you're looking pretty sharp yourself." she replied, fingering his tie.
"Ok, umm..." Linda interrupted awkwardly. "Time for pictures!"
"Mom, no...for real?" Liv asked.
"Yes, Olivia, now come on."
"Mom, seriously."
"Just a couple, ok? I'll limit myself." Linda said, rolling her eyes. They endured a few photos before Linda finally allowed Olivia to get out the door.
"Sorry about that." Liv said as the limo took off towards the hotel where the dance was taking place. "My mom can get a little sentimental sometimes."
"It's all good - my mom is the exact same way." Joe said. "Now, there was something I wanted to do back at your house, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate." he said.
"Really?" Liv asked suspiciously. "And what was that?"
Joe mearly smiled, reaching over and kissing her softly. Liv responded, placing a hand on his chest as he deepened the kiss.
"Yea, Mom probably wouldn't have approved of this." she said quietly before kissing him again. Suddenly, his phone rang - it was Kevin.
"You know it wouldn't even be a thought if it wasn't Kevin." Joe said, grabbing her hand and answering the phone. "Dude, this better be super important."
"I need your help again." Kevin said in a rushed voice.
"Right now? Like, right now, right now?" Joe asked.
"What's wrong?" Liv asked, concerned.
"Not sure yet, hold up - what is it, man?"
"Well, I just got home from dinner with Jess, and at the end, she said she'd really like to hang out again. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"
"You're for shiz calling me about this now? I don't really wish to give you dating advice while I'm on a date, bro."
"'Dating advice'? Give me the phone." Liv said, holding her free hand out. "C'mon, let me talk to him - I am a girl."
Joe submitted, handed the phone over to her. Kevin filled her in on the situation.
"So what should I do?" he finished pitifully.
Liv thought for a moment. "When she was walking away, did she just walk away, or pause and look as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it and left anyway?"
"Uh...I think there was a pause. What does that mean?" he asked, getting flustered at the complex infrastructure known as the female mind (2).
"Dude, go for it, she totally wants you." Liv said shortly.
"For rizzle?"
"For shizzle, K-vizzle."
"How sure are you? Cause I really don't need to embarrass myself with this girl...I mean, I really liked her a lot back in the day...I still do."
"I'm roughly 95.89247 sure. But that's just an estimate." Liv said. "Are you good now?"
"Yes."
"Ok, bye then Kevin." Liv said, holding the phone up to Joe's face so he could tell his brother goodbye before hanging up.
"So, where were we..." Joe said slyly, putting his phone away and kissing her again.
The room was already pounding with music and moving bodies when they arrived. They took more obligatory pictures, just for kicks, before jumping out into the great mass of people. Joe liked the idea of this - many people packed onto one dance floor - because that meant that Liv was dancing in a quite close proximity. They both seemed to take full advantage of this, enjoying themselves as the pounding baseline vibrated through the room. Joe was just happy cause he wasn't getting the G-rated version of Liv's dance moves that he had experienced in the parking lot - and, to be honest, he was putting a little more effort as well. They danced through the night, only taking a break as the King and Queen were named. Needless to say, it was a great night.
"That was fun." Joe said as they entered the cool night air after the party was over.
"Indeed." Liv agreed, lacing her fingers in his as they strolled towards where the limo was waiting.
"So where should we go eat now?" he asked, smiling widely.
"You making fun of me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"No, I'm reading your mind." he replied. "You know you're hungry."
Liv sighed and agreed, and the two went out to eat before taking Liv back home. After all, Joe had promised to bring her home on time, or something of that nature. And even if he had promised a 5 year old, it still meant something!
However, a few days after prom, Liv called Joe, sounding oddly worried.
"Hey, can you come over?" Liv had asked, and Joe could tell over the phone that she was biting her lip in worry.
"Yea, sure, what's up?" he asked, pulling on his shoes while still being on the phone.
"Well...ah...I'll just tell you when you get here." she said distractedly.
"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." Joe said, walking out the door. They exchanged goodbyes, and Joe alternated walking and jogging over to her house. Linda let him in when he arrived.
"She's upstairs in her room, Joe." she said distractedly. "Go on up."
"Ok, thanks Mrs. Haddocks." Joe said, taking the stairs two steps at a time in order to reach Liv's door quicker. He knocked, a muffled "come in" answering him. Liv was pacing in front of her bed, an envelope with a college symbol laying on her bed.
"What's going on?" he asked, trying to stop her pacing. She kept going, biting her thumbnail and distractedly staring at the ground.
"That's my letter from NYU." she said, gesturing towards the envelope on her bed.
"Well," Joe said, sitting down on her bed. "did you get accepted?"
"I don't know." she answered quietly. "I haven't opened it yet."
Joe furrowed his brow. "Why not?"
"I mean, that's my future - our future, kind of - wrapped up all nicely in a postal envelope." she said, running a hand through her hair. "I just, I don't know what I'll do if I don't get accepted, I've been wanting to go there since I was young. And I don't know what we'll do if I get accepted-"
"Why don't we start with opening it?" Joe suggested gently. "You know, step one?" he continued. Liv stopped her pacing right in front of him and slowly nodded her head.
"Yea...yea, that sounds like a good start." she said, sitting down next to him and placing the envelope in her lap. But she couldn't seem to open it. "Please don't tell me I'm overreacting about this." she said suddenly.
"Relax, you're fine." Joe said, smiling encouragingly. "This is a stressful moment, but you'll never know unless you don't go for it."
Liv nodded resolutely, smiled at Joe semi-confidently, and slowly tore the envelope open. She pulled the official looking papers out, quickly skimming over the first few lines before clutching the papers to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut.
"What?" Joe asked; he had been unable to read over her shoulder. "What happened?"
Liv took a deep breath. "I got in." she said. Joe smiled brightly.
"Yes! That's great!" he said, shaking her shoulder. She was unable to contain her smile.
"I got in!" she repeated, grabbing him in a huge hug, the papers still clutched in her hand. They celebrated for a moment before she pulled away, a serious look on her face.
"But where does this leave us?" she asked quietly. Joe furrowed his brow.
"What do you mean?" he asked, not quite liking the direction this was going.
"I mean, I'm going to be all the way in New York, and you'll still be here and there and everywhere doing your music, and I'm just thinking...what are we going to do? Is there even going to be a we?" she asked.
Joe took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Well, what are you thinking? Honestly?" he asked. He knew what he wanted.
"I..." Liv thought for a moment. "I think that this has the potential to last a while longer than a few months." she said afer a second. "At this instant, I don't want to split at the end of the summer." she said resolutely. "I'm just not sure how much you would care for a long distance relationship."
Joe nodded. "I don't want to break up either." he said definitely. "But you're right - a long distance relationship is going to be difficult. But I think we've got enough fight in us to make it." he said, laying down on the bed. Liv smiled softly, laying down next to him and resting her head on his chest. "Out of curiosity, why NYU?" he asked softly.
"My dad went to NYU, so it's always been a pretty sentimental place. Plus, I grew up around there, and I love it. I was devistated when Mom said we had to move - but after 4 years, she couldn't take being surrounded by everything my dad loved, and she wanted a change. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but New York...it's my home." she explained slowly.
"Well I think it's absolutely great that you're getting to go to the college of your dreams." Joe said quietly, draping his arm loosely around her waist. "You're going to be brilliant there."
"Sometimes I wonder what good deed I did to deserve you." she whispered. Joe didn't say anything in response - he just pressed his lips to the top of her head - but little did she know that Joe had asked that question to himself (only about her) multiple times. He knew that the road ahead of them was going to be rough, but Joe had this urge in him to go for it. Something inside him was telling him that it would be worthwhile, and Joseph Jonas always followed his instincts.
The rest of the school year went quickly, and graduation came and went. As soon as the weather turned summery and perfect for swimming and other outdoor activities, Liv had to go to New York to settle things with the living arrangements, spend time with her family there, and do a few things that had to be done before she could attend NYU in the fall. In the end, she had been gone 5 weeks - enough time to test if they could handle a relationship long distance. It had been tough at first, but they worked things out to where they stayed connected - she would call him when she would be walking somewhere, or he would text her whenever he was pretty sure that she was home at her old apartment where they had lived before. She would tell him about the roommates that she was considering; he would tell her the latest antics between him, Kevin, and Nick.
That didn't mean he wasn't super excited about seeing her again, though.
He had wanted to pick her up at the airport, but Kevin wouldn't drive him. Liv also reasoned that her flight was getting in at around 2 or 3 in the morning, and would probably be late. And so, blast all, that meant he had to wait until Miley's pool party to see her again. He immediately grasped her tightly when they arrived, laughing with the absolute joy that he felt. But he was also excited about swimming, so he quickly led her out to the pool.
"CANNON BALL!" he yelled as they reached the backyard, jumping into the pool before anyone else did. Liv laughed and threw herself in after him. All the younger kids - those that were friends of Miley and Jackson from school - cheered as the party kicked off, water going everywhere as they all jumped in. The school friends kind of stayed separate of the "Hannah" friends - i.e., the Jonas Brothers plus Liv. But it was cool - Kevin chilled with Joe and Liv until Jess texted him. Nick was awkwardly placed for a while, but Miley soon came back to retrieve him, so it was alright. Joe and Liv were sitting on the side of the pool after a while, drip-drying as the freshman frolicked about. They watched the interaction like a bad Discover Channel documentary, until Dex picked Lilly up and she yelled something about "blood in the pool" and "stabbing."
"I think that's our cue to go inside and get a drink." Joe said, grinning mischeiviously.
"I concur." Liv said, smiling at what he was implying. They were pretty much dry by now, having sat out for over an hour after swimming for two hours before that. No one noticed as they snuck inside the house, leaving the freshman to their swimming and Kevin to his text messaging.
"Ok, where to?" Liv whispered, adopting the same expression as when she and Nick were turning the boys' rooms upside down (3).
"Quick, down this hall!" Joe said, pulling her down a dark hallway.
"Do you know where you're going?" she asked, feeling a little odd walking around in her bikini.
"Not a clue." Joe replied, opening a door at random. "Score! Study!" he said, leading her into the room. She ran over to the desk, carefully moving the items at the front to other places that were out of the way.
"What are you doing?" he asked her, standing next to her and placing a hand on her back.
"Well, this isn't my desk, so I can't dramatically shovel all this stuff off with a sweep of my arm." she explained, moving a paper weight and deciding her job was done. She turned to him and jumped onto the edge of the desk, a definite "come hither" look in her eyes. Joe didn't need to be told twice - he cupped her face with both hands, kissing her soundly, standing between her knees. She responded just as urgently - it had been a long five weeks, and she had missed her man! She gripped his waist as he slipped his hands into her damp blonde hair, messing up the already tangled locks. Joe was just considering deepening the kiss a little more when the door to the study creaked open. They sprang apart, worried that it was Mr. Stewart at the door.
"Oh, uh, I guess this room is occupied. Sorry." Miley said shortly before making a quick exit. They stood there, shell-shocked, for a moment.
"Well, I guess that means we should probably go out there." Liv said shortly. Joe sighed.
"Do we have to?" Joe whined.
"Dear, which is more awkward - making out in Miley's house, or making out in Miley's house while Miley and Nick know we're making out in her house?"
"Good point. Let's go." he sighed. As they exited the room, Miley and Nick turned to greet them...or taunt them.
"Hey guys!" Nick said enthusiastically. "So, what was going on in there?"
"Oh, Liv lost her...uh..." Joe began.
"Bracelet. I lost my bracelet." she said, casually running a hand through her hair in an attempt to fix it.
"Yea, and so we were looking for it. And it took us a while. But we...found it." Joe added awkwardly.
"Well, Liv, you should probably go to the doctor or something." Miley said, barely containing her laughter.
Liv cocked her head to the side. "Why?"
"Well, I mean, Joe was looking for your bracelet down your throat, and I'm pretty sure it's not good if you've got large pieces of jewelry in your body-"
"Ok, thank you Dr. Miley." Joe said sarcastically. "C'mon, babe, didn't you say you wanted a drink?" he said, offering her a hand.
Liv thought for a moment. "Why yes, I believe I did." she said, taking the offered hand and allowing herself to be led off to the kitchen. They did up getting a drink...eventually. They instead chose to catch up - you know, face to face - until most of the guests had left later in the evening, which was when the Hannah-plus-Jackson-plus-Oliver-and-Lilly crowd was able to chill in the hottub.
Joe was pretty sure that the world was going on around them, but a pretty deep conversation about the differences between LL Cool J and David Beckham had been interrupted to come sit in the hottub. Well, that story was their excuse, as they were really just flirting shamelessly - but quietly. Liv had thrown her legs over his, and he had casually rested a hand on her knee. He decided that this was not a bad position to be in.
"Joe?" someone that sounded vaguely like Miley broke in, but Joe was on a roll and wasn't stopping for-
"Joseph!" she said again.
"What?" Joe asked, frustrated that he had to stop in the middle of his story.
"We're about to verbally abuse Nicholas, and I know it's one of your favorite sports. Care to join?"
"Maybe later." he said, waving off and going back to Olivia. Eventually, though, the night ended - alas, it was inevitable. But they had the rest of the summer, so what was the rush?
X-X-X-X-X
(1) - spoof of Potter Puppet Pals, "Wizard Swears." I believe the exact quote is "I mean everything I ever say ever, because I'm Harry Potter"
(2) - book written by Relient K (yes, the band) entitled "The Complex Infrastructure Known As The Female Mind: According To Relient K"
(3) - Miley and Nick helped Liv turn Kevin and Joe's rooms upside down in chapter 5, "I'm Wet."
ah, thank y'all for everything! as always, leave some love or anything you want to see! peace out!