Twenty Six
Aisling waited for the elevator doors to slide open and began walking down the hallway to her room to grab her bags. On her way down the hall, she passed Joe's door and couldn't help but notice that the doorstop was jammed between the frame and the door, and there was soft humming coming from inside.
"Baby?" Aisling asked tentatively as she knocked on the door. The humming stopped abruptly and she listened as hurried footsteps made their way to the door. Aisling laughed quietly to herself when she heard a loud thump, followed immediately by Joe cursing, and the sound of someone hopping on one foot.
"Aisling!" Joe finally said with a huff as he pulled open the door. Aisling spotted the adorable fluster in his cheeks and she had to bite her lip to resist the urge to grab him right then and kiss him.
"Can I come in for a sec? It'll be quick, I promise." Aisling asked as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Joe nodded quickly and held the door open wider.
Aisling walked through the doorway, ducking underneath Joe's outstretched arm and smirked at the sight of two unpacked bags laying open on the hotel bed. "Well I can see you're busy and need to get this done, so I won't stay for long." Aisling said as she folded one of Joe's shirts and placed it gently in his suitcase. "What did you and Johnny talk about?"
Joe froze only slightly as soon as he heard Aisling's question and tried to play it off smoothly. "Oh you know..." he began nonchalantly as he picked up a pair of jeans and refolded them. "He wants us to break up."
Aisling dropped the shoe that was in her hand and turned to look at her boyfriend. "And what did you tell him?" she asked in a panic.
"No, of course!" Joe shot back, sounded offended. "I told you. I'm doing what I want to now. I'm not listening to Johnny's orders."
"So there's nothing new I should know about? Every thing's fine then"
"Of course. Nothing's wrong, why would you even think that?!" Joe accused harshly.
Aisling turned back to folding another shirt and waited a moment before speaking. " I just thought you got fired when you never came back to the boardroom." Aisling said quietly, avoiding Joe's eyes."Either that or you were mad at me or something."
"Sorry about that. I just wanted to get back up here quick so I could finish packing." Joe mumbled back quickly, coughing to cover up the slight catch at the end of his voice.
"Oh. Okay, well then I should probably get back to my room to grab my bags then. I'll see you downstairs." Aisling said as she finished folding one last v-neck and headed for the door. Joe followed behind her and stopped when she turned around in the doorway to face him.
Standing up on her tip toes, Aisling reached up and kissed Joe softly, her lips lingering on his even after the kiss had ended.
"I love you." She whispered softly, before lowering herself back down onto her feet and turning to walk down the hall without waiting for an answer.
Joe turned to his left and let his head slump forward with a thud. Slamming his fist against the door, he looked back into his hotel room at the sun that was just rising outside his window and sighed.
"I know."
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Joe grabbed his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder quickly as he rushed out of his room. Running down the hallway, he slid to a stop in front of his brother's door.
"Kevin! Are you in there?!" Joe yelled as he knocked loudly. After a few moments, the door opened slowly in front of him and Joe's oldest brother poked his head out.
"Yes, Joseph? I'm packed and ready but we don't have to be downstairs for another ten minutes. What's up?"
"Can I talk to you about something?" Joe asked shyly. A look of minute surprise flashed across Kevin's face, but quickly softened into one of sympathy and kindness.
"Sure thing, kid. Come on in." Kevin answered back softly as he stepped to the side and motioned his brother into the room.
"Is Danielle here?" Joe as self-consciously, looking around the hotel suite.
"Nah, she's downstairs grabbing a quick bite to eat before we head out. She's hungry all the time, it's amazing! I told her I'd meet her down there."
"Oh, okay good." Joe said, sounding content as he dropped his bag to the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"So what can I do for you, Joe?" Kevin said cheerily. Joe watched his brother cross the room casually and pour himself a cup of coffee. Joe waved a hand dismissively when Kevin held the pot out towards him, silently offering him a cup as well.
"Girl troubles." Joe finally said after he waited for Kevin to sit down. Kevin sighed loudly, took a sip from his cup, and arched his eyebrow in curiosity.
"Already? You just got back together yesterday, Joseph." Kevin pointed out simply. Joe rolled his eyes and flopped back down onto the bed in frustration.
"I know! It's ridiculous, Kevin. I love her so much but for some reason people won't let us be happy together!" he cried out, covering his eyes with his hands. Joe dug the palms of his hands into his eyes and rubbed them slowly, trying to clear his head.
"I just want us to be able to walk down the street, holding hands and not worry about a fan getting all upset over it. I want to take my girlfriend to the movies and not have to worry about extra security. I want to be able to kiss my girlfriend and not worry that someone's going to get it on camera."
"So then what's the problem, Joe? You can still do those things!" Kevin said reassuringly. Joe took his hands away from his eyes and looked over at his older brother.
"No, I can't. Because I'm an idiot." he mumbled to himself. Kevin sighed and put his cup down on the table next to him.
"I already knew that. What'd you do?" He asked sarcastically. Joe sat up and allowed his shoulders to slump forward.
"Johnny basically manipulated me into toning down our relationship in public."
"What?!" Kevin sputtered. "I can't believe he'd ask you to do that!"
"Oh, it was worse! Believe me," Joe said sourly. "First he wanted me to break up with her and I said 'fu.ck that!' so then he basically threatened me and said that if I didn't act single out in public and Aisling and I didn't keep our relationship behind closed doors she would get hurt."
Kevin's eyes went wide and Joe watched as his brother's eyebrows disappeared underneath his wild curls. "And how does Aisling feel about keeping it hush, hush?"
"I haven't told her. Johnny and Lydia talked to us separately, and then I left without Aisling and when she came to my room to talk to me about it, I got defensive and said that nothing was going to be different." Joe admitted. Kevin shook his head in disapproval and reached for his coffee cup again.
"You really are an idiot, Joe." Kevin said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, sipping at his coffee.
"If there's no honesty in a relationship, then there's no trust. And if there's no trust, that gives jealousy an opening and once there's jealousy in a relationship you can bet that it'll be over soon." Kevin added wisely. Joe looked over at his brother and saw the years of experience and knowledge in his eyes. It was times like this that he was really grateful for his older brother.
"But I don't want it to be over soon!" Joe whispered sadly, every syllable tugging at his heart.
Kevin stood up from where he was sitting and crossed the room to the door. Opening it, he stood by the doorway and waited. Joe immediately got the message and reluctantly got up from the bed and grabbed his bag. Just before he walked through the door, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and turned to look at his older brother.
"Then you know what to do." Kevin said, his brown eyes scorching into his younger brother’s, willing him to make the right decision this time. He didn't want to see his brother push Aisling away again, then fall into another depression because of it. "I'll see you downstairs, kid."
"Thanks Kevin. I've still got some thinking to do... I'll see you downstairs." Joe answered back. Then he readjusted the strap on his shoulder and headed towards the elevators.
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"Ride assignments!"
Aisling perked up as she heard Johnny yell across the lobby and grabbed the bags at her feet. It was only six in the morning, and she yawned as she joined the line of teenagers shuffling their way towards the front door to the hotel. Looking out the glass windows, Aisling saw the familiar fleet of cars that would take them to their next city.
"Demi, car one."
"Mitchell, car three."
"Tricia, car one."
"AJ, car one."
"David, car seven."
"Aisling, car four." Johnny said as Aisling finally reached the front of the line. He held his hand out and waited for her to drop her plastic key card into it.
"Who am I riding with, John?" Aisling asked as her mouth dropped open in another yawn.
"Cover your mouth, Mathews! I could drive a truck through there!" Johnny snapped. "You're with two thirds of Jonas, by special request."
"Two thirds? Which thirds?" Aisling asked anxiously. She assumed it would be Joe and Nicholas, and that Kevin would ride separately with Danielle but the thought of spending six hours in a car with Joe made her want to double check.
"Come on, princess! Get a fuc.king move on!" Someone yelled from the back of the line. Aisling recognized the voice a little bit, but didn't bother turning around to try and see who it was. Frustrated, she readjusted her bag and walked outside. Quickly, she scanned the row of identical, black SUVs in front of her and looked for the one with a license plate that ended in a four. Finally she spotted it, and threw her bags into the open trunk.
Aisling pulled open the side door to the vehicle and climbed into the empty back seat. She checked her watch. It was 6:10. They were supposed to be on the road by 6:15. Suddenly the door opened again and Lily turned to see if Joe was getting in.
"Oh, Aisling. I'm riding with you I guess..." Nick said slowly as he poked his head into the car and noticed Aisling sitting in the back seat. A smile stretched across his lips and he began to crawl into the back seat with her.
"Sorry, this seat's saved for your brother." Aisling said rudely as she placed her hands down on the seat underneath Nick's as.s.
Without so much as a second glance, Nick dropped down onto the seat, trapping Aisling's hands underneath him. "Why would you want to sit with Kevin?" he asked as he gave Aisling a weird look.
"No, I'm saving it for Joe you idiot." Aisling snapped back as she yanked her hands out from underneath Nick. Flexing her fingers gently, Aisling turned to look at Nick and give him a dirty look but found herself caught by the look he was giving her. It was mischievous and all-knowing and Aisling didn't like it one bit.
"That won't really be necessary since he's riding in car one with Demi, Tricia and Selena." Nick leered. Aisling's mouth dropped open in disbelief and she felt a strange clawing sensation in the bottom of her stomach.
"I don't believe you!" Aisling said indignantly. Nick arched his eyebrow in a teasing way and Aisling watched his gaze shift from her face to slightly beside it.
"See for yourself."
Aisling turned to look out the car window and felt her stomach drop into the bottom of her shoes. Joe was throwing his luggage into a trunk a few cars down from them. Then he turned around, picked up both Tricia's and AJ's bags and threw them into the trunk too. Everyone was giggling. Joe was smiling. The tops of Aisling's thighs started to tingle as old memories started coming back to her.
"Whatever, he's allowed to do what he wants." Aisling sneered as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned her nose up. "They're just friends."
"Yeah, just like how there's nothing going on between us." Nick muttered back sarcastically. Aisling's head snapped around and she leered at Nick.
"There is nothing between us, Nicholas!" Aisling growled. Nick just smiled in response and patted Aisling's leg.
"You keep telling yourself that, Mathews." Nick sneered back. All of a sudden Aisling was very aware of Nick's lingering hand on her thigh, and how high up in was... way out of the 'friendly leg pat' zone. Part of her was bothered, but only because the other part of her wasn't. Quickly she grabbed Nick's hand, pulled it off her leg and threw it back at him.
"Whatever. You're the one who asked to ride with me. Not the other way around!" Aisling said triumphantly. Nick must've been the one who requested that he ride with Aisling, and asked to leave Joe out of the car. 'How pathetic' Aisling thought to herself.
Nick opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when the doors to the car opened once again and Kevin slid into the car behind Danielle.
"Hey guys!" Kevin said cheerily. Aisling smiled slightly and leaned forward in her chair to kiss them both on the cheek.
"Morning Kevin, morning Danielle. Congratulations on the pregnancy!" Aisling said lovingly. The couple beamed at one another then turned to smile their thank-yous at Aisling.
"So what's up?" Kevin asked as the driver slid into the front seat and turned the car on. Aisling stared out her window as they pulled out of the hotel parking lot and chewed on her words.
"Do you know what's up with Joe?" Aisling blurted out. 'So much for being tactful' she thought to herself.
Aisling watched Kevin's shoulders tense up for a moment in front of her, then he sighed and looked at his watch.
"Boy this is going to be a long car ride."
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"So what do you guys think I should do?" Joe asked as he drew in a long breath. They were about three hours away from their next tour stop, and Joe had just explained his entire situation to the three girls in his car. Who better to get girl advice from then girls themselves? Especially when he dated two of them.
"Well I understand that you want to protect her, but you should have at least told her about it Joe!" AJ said as she shook her head.
"I totally agree!" Tricia chimed in. "You shouldn't have kept it from her. You should buy her something expensive to make up for it."
AJ shot a dirty look over at Tricia and patted Joe's knee gently. "No! Don't just buy her meaningless things. Apologize and get her something from the heart."
"That's crap! Diamonds are a girls best friend, right AJ?" Tricia sneered as she reached in front of Joe and flicked at the chandelier earrings hanging from AJ's earlobe.
"Shut up. I love these earrings!" AJ said hotly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "They were a gift from David." she added softly.
"Exactly!" Tricia said smugly. "Diamonds, Joe."
Joe exhaled loudly and put both of his hands up to silence the bickering girls. Leaning forward in his seat, he addressed the silent girl sitting in the chair in front of him.
"What do you think, Dem? You're the only one in the car who makes sense more than fifty percent of the time." Joe joked lightly in her ear. Demi turned around and frowned slightly.
"Do you want me to be one hundred percent honest?" Demi said skeptically, trying to be heard over the bickering that was going on in the back seat.
"Of course." Joe answered back quickly. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
"Okay then. I think you should dump her." Demi said simply. The noise in the car died instantly and Joe swore he could hear the driver breathing all the way up in the front seat.
"What?!" Joe, AJ AND Tricia all said at the same time.
Demi readjusted her seat belt and cleared her throat. "Woah, don't freak out I'm just being honest. Like seriously, people just won't let you two be together... and if it was meant to be, you'd be. But it's way too complicated." Demi continued truthfully.
"You're crazy, Dem! Joe and Aisling belong together!" AJ cried out. Joe was slightly shocked to hear his ex-ex-girlfriend be so adamant on him being with another girl but he was mostly happy that AJ had moved on and he could rely on her as a friend. He felt the same way when he turned around to see Tricia nodding in agreement.
"Okay, okay! I'm not trying to start arguments! But seriously, if they belong together, then why is Joe asking us for relationship advice? He wouldn't need our help if him and Aisling are so perfect together." Demi snapped realistically. Then she turned around in her seat and stared out her window.
"Don't listen to her..." Tricia whispered sympathetically as she patted Joe's leg. Exhaling, Joe leaned back and allowed his head to drop down onto the back of the seat behind him.
"No, she's right Tricia." Joe whispered back, closing his eyes.
"How can you say that?!" Tricia snapped back. AJ's head whipped around at the noise and she looked from Tricia to Joe.
"I'm not saying that I'm going to break up with her Tricia!" Joe said quietly. "I'm saying that I probably shouldn't have come to you guys for advice. It's really none of your business."
Demi's head snapped around and her mouth dropped open in shock. "Wow so you're just going to flick the douche bag switch on then?"
"Fu.ck off, Demi." Joe muttered under his breath. "I'm taking a nap."
"Oh wow, real mature... just ignore us for the rest of the ride. Grow up, Joseph." Demi leered over the back of her seat.
"Just shut up!" Joe screamed. Demi's eyes went wide and she turned around quickly in her seat. “This is going to be a long fuc.king car ride.”
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"Here you go, Mathews." Nick said as he lifted Aisling's suitcase out of the trunk and placed it on the pavement.
"What a gentleman." Aisling snapped sourly. She extended the handle on her bag and began to wheel it towards the hotel doors. The tinkling sound of laughter drifted towards her and she stopped abruptly.
Turning back towards the row of cars, she watched AJ, Demi and Tricia all slide out of the first black truck and grab their bags. Abandoning her bag, Aisling stepped off the curb and began walking towards the vehicle.
Suddenly the brake lights came on, and the truck began to reverse out of its spot. "Where do you think you're going, Jonas!" Aisling screamed at the vehicle. Pounding on the rear window, she tried to peer into the car at the remaining passenger. "Don't act like you're not in there!"
The car sped off out of the parking lot and suddenly Aisling was very aware that every eye in the lot was on her.
"Tone down the crazy, will ya Mathews? People are staring." Nick said cooly as he casually slipped an arm around Aisling's shoulders and began steering her towards the glass door. Casually, he grabbed Aisling's bag as they walked by it and he began to tow it behind him in one smooth motion.
"Your brother's in a lot of sh.it!" Aisling hissed angrily as they stopped in the middle of the hotel lobby. Aisling shrugged Nick's arm off of her just as Johnny approached them and silently dropped two numbered, plastic key cards into their hands.
"I'll make sure he gets the message, then." Nick shouted after Aisling, who was now making her way towards the elevators. As she got closer, she noticed a group of people waiting for a ride up, including AJ, Tricia and Demi.
A new plan hatched in her mind, and Aisling quickened her pace. She got to the elevator just in time to grab AJ's elbow and prevent her from stepping into the one that had just arrived.
"That one looks pretty crowded, we'll wait for the next one!" Aisling said cheerily. AJ looked from Aisling to the crowd in the elevator and nodded in agreement.
"So how was your ride up?" AJ asked casually, trying to start polite conversation. Aisling shrugged once as she stepped into the elevator that had just arrived.
"It was decent. Nick slept the whole way up and Kevin and Danielle pretty much kept to themselves. I didn't really have anyone to talk to." Aisling said nonchalantly as she pressed the button for the 15th floor. "How about you?"
"Oh, you know. Pretty low key." AJ answered back awkwardly. Aisling turned to look at the small girl and raised her eyebrow.
"What did you guys talk about for like, five hours?" Aisling questioned innocently. AJ cleared her throat nervously and looked up at the display screen above the doors.
"Nothing to profound." She answered simply. Aisling nodded in understanding and stared straight ahead for a moment.
"So you didn't talk about love lives or anything?" Aisling quizzed, watching AJ out of the corner of her eye. She could see the girl's lip start to tremble and watched AJ's eyes dart around the elevator nervously.
"Why would we talk about you and Joe's relationship?" AJ shot back nervously. The elevator doors slid open and AJ tried to dart out into the hallway, but Aisling was faster. She stepped in front of the girl and pressing the 20th floor button and waiting until the doors closed behind her.
"I didn't ask if you were talking about me and Joe. In fact, I didn't say anything about our relationship at all." Aisling said back smoothly. AJ was cornered now. Literally and metaphorically.
"Come on, AJ. You're better than this. Friends shouldn't keep secrets from one another."
"No!" AJ wailed as she put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "I promised!" Aisling had to resist the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, but she was hoping it wouldn't resort to that. She was going to get her answers, one way or another.
"AJ! You know you want to tell me all about your conversation with Joey. Our relationship's in trouble, AJ. We're probably going to break up unless I know what you guys talked about." Aisling said sadly. AJ’s eyes got wide and Aisling knew she had her. "On second thought, it's okay. Keep your promise to Joe... we're pretty much already over."
"What?! Joe didn't say you guys were breaking up! He only said that he had to pretend he was single in public and keep your relationship behind closed doors because Johnny told him to!" AJ squeaked out. Aisling's eyebrow shot up and she turned to the girl. "Please don't break up. He loves you." she added quietly.
"Oh don't worry, AJ we're not going to break up. But thanks!" Aisling chirped happily. AJ's jaw dropped open and she slapped her forehead.
"You're not mad at me, are you Aisling?" AJ asked nervously. Aisling smiled sweetly and gave the girl a quick, one armed hug and pressed the button for the 15th floor again.
"Of course not, AJ. But that Jonas boy on the other hand.... well he's got another thing coming!"
Before you say 'don't break them up!' and all that stuff, don't worry your pretty little heads. Stick in there, you'll see where I'm going. Everything will work itself out (: oh and the next chapter is the last chapter..
