I'm so sorry guys about the wait. I thought I would have this chapter done a long time ago. I had NO idea that I would be this busy. Again, I apologize for the length of the down time I had. Please read and review with editing tips, story ideas, or anything you think might be helpful to me. I'd really appreciate it! Thank you!

Joe awoke to the aroma of unhealthily strong coffee. Stretching, he looked into the kitchen to see Stella at the small table with a mug in one hand and a sketch pencil in the other.

"Morning" Joe said sleepily as he walked into the small kitchen area behind her.

"Gosh, Joe! You scared me!" she replied with dramatic shock.

Smiling, Joe poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table that was enshrouded with unfinished clothing designs.

"Wow Stel, for what occasion would I need to wear this?" he asked, pointing to a particular design. It was a Tuxedo with long tails, a top hat, and shoes with metal tips at the toes.

Stella looked over at the design concealing her embarrassment. "d-don't know, j-just got the idea one day to draw that."

"Well I would look- what word did Kevin use that time? Oh yes- strapping! A strapping lad I would be!"

Stella rolled her eyes at the humorous boy and went back to her sketching. She had drawn that after attending the wedding of one of her close friends, thought the drawing originally had Joe's head on it. Thankful now that she had erased it, Stella put down her pencil and paper to pick at the blueberry muffin she had chosen for her breakfast.

Joe sat staring at the small television that broadcast her favorite morning news channel sipping his coffee. Stella noticed he hadn't mentioned anything about the past day's occurrences.

"Hey Stel," he said after the weather report of 'sun, sun, and more sun' was broadcast, "what are you doing today?"

"I'm not really sure," she responded, "I need to go pick up the material for Kevin's pants. I'm trying to reinforce the knees. You know how he likes to power slide."

Joe laughed. Kevin was definitely the odd one. He was surprised he even had a girlfriend. Though Lauren was odd too after all. The short blonde had met Kevin at a roller blading convention and had never heard of Jonas or the Lucas brothers. She treated him like a normal guy and as long as Kevin was happy, Joe was too.

"Well I don't know what I'm going to do," he said hoping that they could do something together.

"You could… I don't know… ride your bike to Burger King, then McDonalds, Taco Bell-"

"No… something fun," he laughed, "or distracting," he added.

"You could always take me shopping!" Stella declared.

"Yeah, wait, what?" Joe asked confused and obviously not paying attention.

"You asked me for help now you're not PAYING ATTENTION." She said looking him in the face.

"Well you're not helping."

"I don't know what you should do."

"Well I do want to go shopping," he said shocking her.

"Wow, in all my days," she said sanctimoniously, "I have never heard you day you want to go shopping."

"What?" he asked, "I didn't mean I want to go clothes shopping."

"I knew you would never."

"I want to go car shopping. I only own one car at the moment and that makes me feel weird. Like I'm missing something…" he said looking off into the distance for dramatic effect.

Stella began to laugh, lightly slapping Joe's arm.

"Well I always find shopping to be a stress reliever but I usually end up buying a lot more junk than I need."

"But that's the fun of it!" he protested. "I want to go spend money."

"Well you do that," she replied, knowing he was going to go no matter what she said. He mom once told her that boys never grow up, the toys they play with just got bigger.

"Do you want to go with me?" he asked feebly, preparing for a 'no'.

Stella knew she had much to do, looking around at the messy apartment and at the pile of pants belonging to Kevin.

"Sure," she replied surprising him.

Joe left Stella's apartment and went home to get ready for the day. Walking home he felt clear-headed and awake, like the morning air was urging him to be focused and connected to the world around him. However, all he could think about was Stella.

Joe opened the front door and immediately noticed the pair of bright teal Converse by the door. Lauren had obviously not gone home last night. In a way he was proud, but at the same time surprised and a bit curious how the event unfolded considering Kevin's antics.

Joe bypassed the kitchen deciding he'd rather go out for breakfast. He felt like spending money today. He wasn't really sure why, it could have been in part due to Mindy but he had wanted to buy some things for himself for a while.

He ran up the stairs taking them two at a time eager to get ready and leave. Walking down the hall he noticed an orange Roxy shirt on the floor along with the Burberry scarf Joe had bought Kevin for Christmas. Quickly passing Kevin's room, Joe entered his own closing the door and beginning to rush around looking to for the right thing to wear. He had never had issues before with his clothing choices but that was due to the fact that Stella picked out most of his outfits. He wanted to impress her by wearing something nice.

'Nick could help!' Nick was the one he went to for help and advice in these situations. Even though Nick was the youngest, Kevin just didn't know how to handle normal issues. Joe ran down the hall toward Nick's room, well it was really a recording studio with a sleeping quarters. He burst through the doors and began searching for his younger brother.

"Nick!" he yelled. "Where are you? I need to ask you something!"

Running into Nick's bedroom sized closet he noticed a set of coat hangers on the floor with the labels 'Armani Gray Coat' and 'Armani Gray Trouser'. Nick labeled everything, even when it was obvious. Seeing the missing suit Joe realized Nick must have gone to church. Nick led music and played the drums at the church their father used to pastor every other weekend.

"And Kevin's… busy," he muttered.

Joe rushed down the hall back to his room and into his bathroom. He didn't want to risk messing with his hair so he skipped that and went directly to shaving. Managing to not cut himself, Joe quickly ran to his large closet and began browsing. He quickly chose a pair of distressed, relax fit jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt, throwing on a pair of blue Sperry deck shoes on his feet. Once dressed, Joe grabbed his phone, keys, and leather wallet. He ran back down the hall dodging the various clothing items on the floor and down the stairs into the 15+ car garage and workshop where Joe liked to mess around and enjoy his little known hobby of tinkering around under the hood. He briskly passed several of Kevin's cars including his barely used Jeep Commander and Nick's new yellow Camaro and slid into the seat of his self restored black 1968 Mustang.

A/N: So what do you think? Some sex, just a hint I know. I'm going to change the rating of this to T and then have alternate scenes that I'll post like oneshots that will be M rated. I know I haven't updated in almost a year but if you'll forgive me I'll have chapters continuing all summer long! BTW I just started an Ironman fic called Loss and Gain and will be doing that on the side so if you get time please read that and give me feedback.