X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 11:
"Will you marry me?" Joe asked, holding the ring out expectantly. Liv took a deep breath.
"Yes! Of course!" she nearly screamed, wrapping her arms around him as he stood up. He picked her up and twirled her around in the light of the setting sun, laughing joyously. After a few moments, he put her down and slipped the ring onto her finger. She gazed at the ring, quite amazed by the way the diamonds sparkled. It was a relatively simple ring, but he couldn't have made a better choice - white gold, a big round cut diamond in the middle, and two smaller round diamonds on the side.
"I have to call people!" he said excitedly. She almost jumped up and down.
"Yes! You call your brothers - I need to call my mom!" she replied, whipping her phone out and dialing the number quickly. Joe followed in suit, dialing the number to Nick's new house.
"Hello?" Nick answered. Joe almost spontaneously combusted with excitement.
"OH MY GOD, SHE SAID YES!" he almost yelled. He could practically hear Nick wince with the volume.
"Joe?" Nick asked after a moment.
"Yes it's me, and I'm freaking getting married!" Joe said excitedly.
"Shh, use your inside voice, Joe, you're giving me a headache. So I think what you're telling me is that she said yes?"
"Yes! Now I get to be like you with a little wife at home and everything!"
"Uh, I wouldn't describe Olivia as 'little'..." Nick said uncertainly. "She's taller than you with her heels on." he finished. Joe heard him relaying the story to Miley. "Miley says congratulations."
"Tell her thanks." Joe said. He noticed Olivia was off the phone and was tugging on his tie in an effort to politely tear him away from his brother. "Anyway, I gotta go cause Olivia is waiting. But I just wanted you to know."
"Thanks for callin', bro. I'll talk to you later." Nick said, laughing.
"Ok bye!" Joe said quickly, hanging up and kissing his fiance soundly. Hmm, fiance...he liked the sound of that.
"Were they super excited?" she asked when they broke apart. "My mom certainly was."
"Relatively speaking, pretty excited!" he answered. "Now I just need to call Kevin."
"Well hurry up, I want to spend time with my fiance on our engagement night!" she said. Joe smiled in response, hurriedly dialing Kevin's number.
"Hello, Jonas residence."
"Jess! Is Kevin there?" Joe said, rushed.
"Joe?" she asked.
"Yes!"
"Yea, Kevin's over-"
"Oh, never mind, I'll just tell you!" he said, sounding very excited. "Olivia said yes!"
"'Yes' as in the engaged kind of yes?" she asked.
"Yes! I'M GETTING MARRIED!" Joe almost yelled in excitement.
"Well congratulations, Joe!"
"Can you tell Kevin when he finds his way home?" Joe asked quickly; Olivia was tugging on his tie again.
"He's right next to me, he said to tell you congrats as well." Jess said.
"Thanks, Jess! I'll talk to you later."
"Ok, bye Joe."
"BYE!" he hung up, grabbing Liv's hand and spinning her around. "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" he said excitedly.
"I know!" she responded, laughing. They spent the rest of the night celebrating, the excitement never dying down. At the end of the night, Liv adamantly denied Joe a sleepover - she knew that they were both probably a little too excited for their own good.
A week or two later, Liv was sitting at her desk not doing her work, opting for looking at wedding stuff instead. She was just considering the difference between "Olivia Jonas" and "Olivia Haddocks-Jonas" when the phone rang.
"Hello, Olivia Haddocks." she answered tiredly - she was planning on doing minimal work today and try to start planning her wedding. Sure, she had about six months to do it, but she knew from helping plan Miley's wedding that even with so much time, you can always find something else that needs to be taken care of.
"Liv? It's Miley." Miley said in a small voice.
"What's up, hun?" Olivia asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yea, I'm alright, it's just..." she paused. "Can you come over here?"
"Like, right now?" Liv asked, pulling up her schedule on her laptop.
"Yea..." Miley said softly.
"Give me five minutes to reschedule a couple things and I'll be out of here. What's the problem, babe? Is it something with Nick?" she asked.
"No, no, nothing like that...I'll just explain when you get here." Miley responded. They exchanged goodbyes, and Olivia made a couple quick phone calls before practically running out the door. Miley sounded really worried, which made Liv worry. Ten minutes (and two avoided speeding tickets) later, Liv pulled into the driveway of Nick and Miley's house. She jogged up the steps, knocking impatiently on the door until Miley answered.
"Ok, honey, what's up?" Liv asked, stepping over the threshold and unceremoniously dropping her things on the dining room table. Miley didn't say anything; she just held up a pink box, the words "pregnancy test" jumping out at Liv.
"Oh, I see." Olivia said, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Do you really think so?"
"I'm kind of hoping so." Miley said. Liv's heart fell a little bit - there was quite the difference between hope and positivity.
"Well, let's have a look then, shall we?" she replied, trying to be optimistic for Miley. Miley nodded affirmatively and led her to the upstairs bathroom. Liv waited in a comfy chair outside of the bathroom while Miley did her business, praying that things would turn out well for the younger girl. Miley came out after a couple minutes, shaking the stick.
"It says to wait for five minutes." she said, still shaking the stick. Liv took Miley's hands in hers to steady them.
"I don't think shaking it is going to help, dear." she said, laughing a little bit. Miley gave a half-smile, but nothing more than that. She decided to go a different route. "Who all have you told about trying?"
"Besides Nick, you mean?" Miley asked wryly.
"Of course." Olivia replied, laughing.
"Just you." Miley replied.
"Oh." Olivia said, taken aback. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well, thank you for confiding in me."
"It's no bid deal." Miley replied, shaking her head and glancing at the clock - three and a half minutes left now. The rest of the minutes passed in silence, seemingly lasting three and a half lifetimes.
"Ok, it should be time now." Olivia said softly. Miley looked - there was nothing but a small little dash to seal her fate. Olivia took it from her, giving it a once over.
"It's negative." Miley breathed sadly. Olivia shook her head.
"Maybe it's a faulty test. I read somewhere that you should always take two, just in case." she said, trying to be encouraging. Even she was hoping for a positive for the girl.
Miley slowly nodded her head. "Yea...yea maybe it's just defective..." she said, taking another test out of the box. Roughly six and a half minutes later, Liv was sitting on the edge of the bathtub as Miley checked the clock again.
"It's supposed to be a plus, right?" she asked innocently.
"Yea," Olivia answered. "a plus is positive and a minus is...well..."
"How much longer?" she asked.
"About thirty more seconds." Olivia replied, glancing at her watch. Thirty one seconds later, Miley snatched up the test, sighing in frustration.
"Negative." she said. "Do you think maybe I should take another one?"
"You've already taken two," Olivia said in a motherly way. She gently rubbed Miley's back, trying to comfort her. "I don't think third time's the charm on this one. And you haven't even been trying that long, so don't worry about it if it doesn't happen right away."
"Yea, it's just a little frustrating...plus, Nick doesn't really want to talk about it with people, and he doesn't want to talk about it all the time, so I have to keep it all to myself..."
"You know I can keep a secret." Liv said, smiling. She patted Miley's hand comfortingly.
"Thanks." Miley said, giving a small smile in return. They sat in a semi-awkward silence for a few minutes, neither one quite knowing what to say.
"Well," Olivia said after a few minutes. "I should probably get back to work. I've been kind of slacking today."
"Yea, ok." Miley said. She didn't really want to be alone, but she knew how much work Olivia put into her job.
"Are you gonna be ok?" Liv asked, rubbing Miley's arm. Miley shrugged.
"Yea, I'll be fine." she replied, mustering up a fake smile. "I think I'll just take a nap or something until Nick gets home."
"Ok," Liv said as they made it into the entrance hall. She grabbed her things. "you call me if you need anything else, okay?"
"Okay." Miley said. They embraced before Liv raced back to her office, trying to get enough work done so that she could get distracted by her wedding plans the next day.
The next few weeks were a little hectic - Joe had a lot of things going on, and Liv's workload suddenly increased dramatically. Miley was also stressing about baby things, and Liv couldn't help but try and take care of her a little. Liv felt awful having to keep the secret from Joe, but Miley had wanted it to be kept quiet, so she would keep it quiet. Then, as if all that weren't enought, the public had gotten word of their engagement, so there were constantly people calling trying to get the inside scoop. Needless to say, wedding plans were coming along very slowly.
A few weeks after that original day with Miley, Olivia got a text message from Miley asking to come to coffee at their house the next morning. Apparently, she had been pregnant, and then had a miscarriage. Olivia sighed as the read the text, gathering the mounting wedding stuff and pushing it aside.
"What's wrong?" Joe asked from where he was looking at wedding stuff right next to her. She hummed distractedly.
"Miley's just having some problems." she said vaguely. She glanced at the clock - it was much later than she thought.
"I should probably go now." Joe said, practically reading her mind. She smiled softly.
"Ok. So tomorrow, let's actually make some decisions, yea?" she said, smiling. Joe laughed.
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" he said, kissing her goodbye. "Love you."
"Love you too." she responded, smiling as he left. Her face fell as she was left alone, stretching before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
The dreaded morning came all too quickly, and Liv was on Miley's doorstep a bit sooner than she would have liked. She still had no idea how to comfort the girl, so she was just going to wing it. Miley answered the door a couple minutes after Liv rang the doorbell, and Liv immediately wrapped her arms around the younger girl.
"I'm sorry, honey." she said softly. Miley just nodded against Liv's shoulder, unable to speak due to her throat tightening with her sadness. Olivia pulled back after a moment, leading Miley to the kitchen. Miley collapsed in a chair at the dining table as Liv put the coffee on, neither woman saying anything until they were both sitting down, steaming mugs in hand.
"Are you ok?" Liv asked hesitantly. Miley shrugged.
"What do you think?" she asked a little cynically. "I mean, I finally have what I've been wanting for the past few months, and then it was just taken away from me...like that." she snapped her fingers for emphasis.
"It'll happen, I know it." Olivia said gently. "It just wasn't your time."
"That's what Nick keeps saying." Miley said, giving a humorless laugh. She suddenly grabbed Liv's left hand, inspecting the engagement ring Joe had given her. "If you get pregnant before me, I'll kill you." she said, only half kidding.
Olivia didn't mention that the way the plans were going, they'd be on their deathbeds before they got married. Instead she gave a light laugh, knowing how upset Miley was. "I still need to get married," she said. "and even after that, I'm not sure how quickly I want kids."
"But you'll have the option at least. I've got a broken uterus or something." Miley mumbled into her coffee.
Liv sipped her coffee, not saying anything in response. Truth be told, she didn't know how to respond, and her cluttered mind had slipped back to wedding plans. She needed to start looking for a dress soon...
"Um, so," Miley said, interrupting her musings. "how are the wedding plans coming?"
"They're fine." Liv said, laughing. "Joe's getting a little too involved, if you ask me."
Miley smiled, nodding for her to continue.
Liv spoke again. "He told me the other day that we should put cartoon characters on top of the cake - he could be Batman and I'd be Catwoman. Don't worry, I shot that down pretty quick." she said after Miley perked an eyebrow. Miley gave a small laugh, but Liv could tell that it was forced.
"Anyway," she said after a moment of awkward silence. "I should probably head out - I've got an appointment in a little while. Is Nick going to be home soon?" In reality, the only appointment she had was sitting with Joe and going over wedding plans, but there was so much on her mind that she just couldn't handle having to take care of Miley right now.
"He's at the studio right now, but he's going to try to be home in a few hours." Miley said. Liv cursed inside - that meant Joe would be there too, so she was going to enjoy the afternoon by herself.
"Well, I'm glad he'll be around at least." she said. "Just call me if you need anything, ok?" she finished. Miley nodded, walking with her to the front door. "Just take it easy today, Miles." she said, giving the girl a comforting hug.
"I will. Thanks for coming, Liv." Miley said into Liv's shoulder. Olivia gave her one more encouraging smile before heading out, driving back to her apartment to try and get a little bit of wedding planning done. She was proud of herself - she had actually made an appointment with the bakery to taste the cakes, she had set up an appointment with her mother to go try on wedding dresses, and the old men she worked with finally deemed her good enough to do her own work!
About a month later, Olivia was on her way to work when Joe called.
"Hello there!" she answered, a smile already on her face.
"Hi hot stuff." Joe answered, making her roll her eyes.
"What's up?" she asked, laughing at him.
"Well, what time are we supposed to go and eat cake next week?" he asked. She paused, eyeing the phone suspiciously.
"Two o'clock in the afternoon." she said slowly. He exhaled.
"Do you think there's any way we can change it? We got a call today saying that PopRocks Magazine wants to do an interview..." he said hesitantly.
"Oh darn," Liv said sarcastically. "I guess I'll have to go and eat all that cake by myself. Woe is me."
"Oh nu uh!" Joe responded. "One - we agreed that if there's cake involved, ever, we share. I want to get some chocolate action on! B - they want to interview you too!"
"We can't have chocolate cake, honey. And why would they want to interview me?" she said.
"What do you mean we can't have chocolate?!" Joe said, appalled.
"Dear, I'm going to be in a white dress, and you know that I'm not exactly the...cleanest eater around."
"Yea, you tend to make a mess." he said semi-seriously. She laughed.
"Shut up!" she said jokingly. "Don't judge me!"
"You know I won't ever judge you ever." he said, feaux tiredly. "But seriously, why can't we have chocolate?"
"No chocolate, Joe." she said, holding back her laughter.
"But Oliiiiviaaaaa, we have to have chocolate!" he whined.
"I'll think about it." she said.
"That's code for 'no'!" he said.
Liv laughed. "Ok, good, you've already learned. Now, why does PopRocks want to interview me?" she asked.
"Oh, it's like a special thing that they're doing on us, cause we're all in different walks in relationship life or whatever. You know, cause Kevin's married with a kid, Nick's just married, and I'm getting married..." he explained. "Apparently it's going to be this really long, intense thing."
"Hmm, sounds interesting." Olivia said. "I guess I can take off work then."
"Great! I'm supposed to tell you to...oh crap, what was it..." he muttered to himself. Olivia rolled her eyes again, smiling - she knew he'd get it in a second.
"OH!" he almost yelled, clearly remembering. "I was supposed to tell you to bring your own outfit or whatever, but that they'll do your hair and makeup."
"I have to pick my own clothes for this?" she asked incredulously. "Wait...why am I picking wardrobe?"
"For the photo shoot, duuuuh." Joe drawled. Olivia shook her head.
"Ok, I suppose I'll find something." she said, more to herself than Joe.
"Wear the white dress you had on when we got engaged." Joe suggested. And by "suggested," I mean "told."
"That one? Are you sure?" she asked, hesitant.
"I'm positive! Do it!" he said excitedly. She laughed again.
"Ok, white one it is then." she agreed. He wooped in victory. "Anyway, hun, I've gotta jet now - I'll talk to you later?"
"Of course! I love you!" he said.
"Love you too!" she responded, smiling as she hung up the phone. She shook her head, marvelling at the life that she got sometimes just by being associated with the Jonas Brothers. She called the bakery, requesting to change the date - it wasn't a problem, considering who was getting married.
The photo shoot was a blast - Miley, Liv, and Jess all certainly enjoyed poking fun at the brothers, who insisted that they needed the 007 theme song playing while they shot. The interview went well also, and they were all excited to see it when it would come out in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, there were still wedding plans to be made.
"So Kevin told me that I'm supposed to keep you happy and not argue about this whole chocolate issue." Joe said, smiling as they made their way over to the bakery.
"Kevin's a very smart individual." Olivia said, nodding appreciatively. She laughed when Joe looked at her with a face that personified heartbreak.
"But...chocolate..." was all he said. She shook her head, smiling.
"How about this," she started. "your groom's cake can be chocolate."
"Really?!" he asked. "SCORE!" Liv rolled her eyes, smiling at how such a small detail like cake flavor could make him so happy. They arrived at the bakery a few minutes later and were led to a back room separate from the main room, enabling them to do what they needed to do without being interrupted by screaming fans or the paparazzi. Olivia was a little hesitant to do this - after all, there's no telling what could happen after Joe had that much sugar.
"This is so super good!" he exclaimed after eating half his plate of samples. Olivia laughed at him.
"Did you even taste them?" she asked.
"Yes. They were delicious." he said, smiling broadly. "Kind of like this!" he added, leaning over and kissing her. She smiled into the kiss.
"Your lips taste like frosting." she said when he pulled away.
"Cause I'm so sweet!" he said. Olivia rolled her eyes, grabbing a piece of cake and stuffing it on his face.
"So sweet." she said, smiling. He licked off a part of the cake.
"Hmm, I really like this one." he said seriously.
"For real?" she asked, perking an eyebrow.
"For rizzle L-vizzle." he said with a definite nod. She got a piece off of his face and tasted it.
"Oh, that is good." she agreed. "Which one is it?"
"As if I would know, silly." Joe said, shaking his head. She smiled and took another bite, thinking.
"I think it's...aw heck I don't know either." she replied, laughing. They called the baker, Jackie, in to ask. She grabbed the remaining piece - which was nearly a crumb - and popped into her mouth. She hummed quietly in thought.
"Definitely French vanilla frisk with pina colada frosting." she said after a moment.
"It's not alcoholic, is it?" Liv ask, not even flinching that they both liked such an odd combination.
"No, not at all." Jackie said, leaving them to finish their tasting. Joe looked at Liv oddly.
"We're all over 21 you know." he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I'm thinking of Tyler - poor kid's like 12 or something." she said, shrugging. Joe thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement.
"Sounds reasonable enough." he said, taking a bite of another sample. He shook his head. "I think I've got my favorite."
Olivia followed his example, tasting another piece of cake. She shook her head as well. "Me too."
"Wait, does this mean that we actually came to a decision on something?!" Joe exclaimed. Liv's eyes widened.
"We even agreed on it, no less!" she replied, giving him a high five.
"Excellent, we've soooo got it now!" he said. They called Jackie back in, telling her the order and the date, their moods light and hearts high. They exited the bakery hand in hand, walking down the boardwalk in the warm California sunshine and talking. Suddenly, Liv came to a dead stop, her hand pulling back on Joe, who would not have otherwise realized for another couple seconds.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned. "Did you forget something?"
"No...well, kind of." she said quietly. Her eyes began to glisten a little bit, but no tears fell. In fact, Joe couldn't ever remember seeing her truly cry.
"What's the matter, muffin?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and attempting to pull her eyes up to his. She looked up at him, her eyes reflecting her pain. She swallowed, taking a deep breath.
"It's just..." she stopped for a second, composing herself. The glisten was gone, but he could tell her heart was hurting. "Who's going to give me away at our wedding?"
Joe felt as if time had stopped. He was surprised that the fact that Liv's father would not be there to give her away had never crossed either of their minds. He quickly pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Her arms were placed loosely around him, the rest of her left unmoving as he gently rubbed her back, trying to heal her hurting heart.
--
About a month after the interview and photoshoot, Olivia was sitting in her apartment, minding her own business and reading a book. All of a sudden, she heard the key in the lock, and Joe practically sprinted in, leaping over the arm of the couch and landing next to her.
"Well hello to you too." she said, perking an eyebrow and smiling.
"IT'S HERE." he said quickly, holding out a magazine.
"What is?" she asked, taking it from him. He didn't need to answer since she spotted the cover. There were all three of the Jonas Brothers and their significant others, as well as little baby Maddie. Joe quickly flipped it to the page and they began reading.
The Jonas Brothers were first noticed with their debut album "It's About Time," and hit the big time with their self-titled sophomore album. At that time, the three brothers were still in their younger years, Kevin turning 20 years old in 2007. Despite rumors throughout the years that the boys were dating other celebrities (such as Nick Jonas' "secret" relationship with Hannah Montana), they kept their relationships separate from the prying eyes of the public. Now two brothers are married, one of them with a child, and the final brother is engaged to be married in the spring. PopRocks got an interview with the pop trio, and got the inside scoop on life, love, and keeping relationships strong.
"'Life, love, and keeping relationships strong'?" Olivia asked, laughing a little bit.
"I mean, it may be a little cheesy...but whatever! Skip to our part!" Joe said, shaking the magazine. Liv flipped past Nick and Miley's spread to theirs. It was odd to see her own face in a magazine - all three brothers were very adamant about the paparazzi leaving their significant others alone. The biggest picture was of the two of them (clearly), Liv was behind Joe, her arms around his shoulders and her cheek next to his. There were a couple of candid shots around it - like one of the two of them laughing while Liv was getting her hair done and one where they were talking on a couch, their hands intertwined. Liv skipped over to the interview section.
PR asks: How did you two meet?
(Joe and Olivia both smile) "Well," Joe starts, "we actually met because I spilled my entire cup of coffee on her." Olivia laughs at the memory. "It was quite graceful, really." she adds. "Although I swear I smelled like caramel macchiato for the next week or so."
PR asks: Olivia, what was it like to date someone famous?
"It honestly wasn't that big a thing." Olivia says. "I mean, we would hang out and have a good time just being with each other, it never really had much to do with fame. Although I did get some sweet tickets to concerts!"
PR asks: Joe, did you ever think that you were going to fall in love with a "normal person?
"If you mean 'normal' as in 'not famous,' it wasn't ever something I thought about. I was just hoping to find someone that was friendly and fun and would laugh at my jokes. It never really mattered to me if she was famous or not. Actually, unfamous is almost better - I've seen some of those 'famous' girls at parties, and let me tell you, it is not pretty." he says. Olivia makes a face when he says this. "They're really not." she adds, and they laugh.
PR asks: How do you manage to keep a relationship whenever you're separated for long periods of time?
"It's really difficult, let me tell you." Olivia says, her eyes wide. "But if it's someone that you know is really special, then it's totally worth it." she finishes. "I agree," adds Joe. "It's lots of work, but when it's all said and done, you find that it was so worth the wait. The ends justify the means, if you will."
PR asks: Is it difficult to plan a wedding while both of you are working?
(Joe and Olivia both burst into laughter) "It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, ever!" Joe says. "We're like, calling each other on the way to work and everything, going 'ok, so did you call the baker?' 'Yes, I called the baker.' 'And you set up an appointment?' 'No, we just had a nice chat and I hung up.' 'Hey, there's no need to sass me this early in the morning!'-" Joe is interruped by Olivia. "I think they get the picture, hon." she says, laughing at him. "But he's right - I mean, I've got wedding stuff in the car, in my desk, in my purse, all over the place, just trying to get it all done!"
PR asks: Are there any plans for little Jonases yet?
(Joe and Olivia both look at each other, an identical look on their face) "Well," Olivia says. "I think I can speak for us both when I say that we need to just get married first - start at square one."
PR asks: Joe, are you going to perform at your own wedding?
"No." he says, and they both laugh. "I'll let someone else do it for once."
PR asks: So, who wears the pants in the relationship?
"Today? Me." Joe says, gesturing to the pants he is wearing. Olivia chimes in. "Yea, today I'm wearing a skirt, but who knows about tomorrow!"
PR asks: No, seriously, who wears them?
"I think we share the pants." Olivia says, turning to Joe. He nods in agreement, pursing his lips in thought. "But sometimes you steal the pants from me." he says. Olivia rolls her eyes, smiling. "Ok, that was one time, and they were pajama pants! You can't seriously still be on that!" she says, looking at him. He looks the other direction, hiding a smile. "No comment." he says.
PR asks: So, where are these mysterious pajama pants?
"Where they rightfully belong." Olivia says with a definite nod. Joe looks shocked. "They do not rightfully belong in your dresser!"
PR asks: Ok, looks like we're out of time. Any last words?
"Don't do drugs." Olivia says. "Yea," Joe agrees. "And don't attempt to catch a pidgeon in New York City by placing bread all around you." When the interviewer gives them a strange look, Olivia shakes her head. "Don't ask. Random experiment."
"Aw, that was pretty good!" Olivia said. "Plus, you look quite attractive in this picture."
"Yes indeed I do!" Joe said, taking the magazine. "Who knows how an individual could be so beautiful?"
"Oh yea, it should be illegal how hot you are." Liv said sarcastically, taking the magazine back. "Now let's focus a little bit - we've still got a lot of planning to do."
X-X-X-X-X
ok, so i'm not too excited about how i ended this one, but whatever. also sad cause i didn't get to use any allusions, which are by far my favorite literary device. so sad.
anyway, if you've got any ideas, send them my way! leave love, peace out y'all!