chapter 11
“We aren’t stuck,” Abigail said, her voice shaking with nervousness as she walked over to the buttons on the elevator wall and started pressing them, each one, trying to get the elevator to move. “Elevators don’t get stuck, Joe.”
“We’re stuck, the power is out,” Joe said as Abigail pressed the emergency call button several times, but to her dismay found that nothing happened. “You can’t do anything about it.”
“Mother f*cker,” Abigail muttered as she turned around to face Joe and ran her hands through her hair. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault?” Joe asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “How the hell is this my fault?”
“Because I always take the stairs, and then today I just decided to follow you to the elevator--”
“You could’ve still taken the stairs,” Joe shot back. “I never said you had to follow me here. Unless that was your plan, to get me alone in here or something. Wait, I know.” Joe paused for a moment as he took a step closer to Abigail. “You were conspiring with my brothers just to get me alone in this elevator so you could have your way with me.”
“You wish,” Abigail replied, rolling her eyes and taking a step back to lean against the elevator wall. “Trust me Joe, you’re one of the last people on Earth I’d want to be stuck in an elevator with. You’re on the list with Crazy Eye Guy and my weird ass roommate.”
“Well you aren’t at the top of my list either, sweetheart,” Joe said, turning around and walking to the opposite wall of the elevator and leaning against it. “But unfortunately for us, we’re stuck here until someone figures out that we’ve gone missing.” Abigail reached into her purse and dug through looking for her cell phone, pulling it out and checking it.
“Dammn, no service,” she said, hopelessly sliding it back into her purse before dropping it onto the ground. “What about yours?”
“It’s in my car,” Joe said with a shrug, at which Abigail groaned. “Sorry, I didn’t exactly plan to get stuck in an elevator, and I thought if I had my phone someone might call and disrupt our meeting.”
“Wow, Joe Jonas was actually trying to be considerate for once?” Abigail replied in an astonished tone. “Call the kids and wake the neighbors--”
“You know, this is your big problem,” Joe said. “I wouldn’t have to be anywhere near as much of a jerk to you if you weren’t such a b*tch to me.”
“I’m not a b*tch,” Abigail said. “There’s a difference between being a b*tch and being sarcastic. Obviously you didn’t know that.”
“Well if you’re only being sarcastic, you don’t have the right to call me out on being an ass when you don’t even know the first thing about me,” Joe said, crossing his arms over his chest and taking a step forward, beginning to pace across the elevator. “You have no idea what I have to deal with every single day, and why it makes me act the way I do. So you know what, Abigail? Don’t tell me I’m an inconsiderate ass.”
“Fine, but only if you stop constantly hitting on me and giving me crap about dating your brother,” Abigail said.
“First off, you know you like it,” Joe said, and Abigail shook her head. “And second off, I still don’t get it.”
“You don’t get what?” Abigail asked. “I like Kevin, and I think he likes me. We’ve gone out a few times, why is that such a big deal to you? What’s so hard to understand about it?”
“What is it about Kevin, Abigail?” Joe asked, his voice seemingly full of anger. “I don’t get it, what do you see in him?”
“Why is it such a big deal to you, Joe?” Abigail asked. “You’re brothers, and you’re supposed to be happy for each other when they find someone that makes them happy. I don’t see you having a big issue with Nick and Blaire, but now that Kevin’s found someone--”
“You have no idea how I feel about Nick and Blaire,” Joe half-yelled in her direction, causing her to flinch with surprise. “Stop making assumptions, because like I said, you have no idea what goes on in my life.”
“Fine then Joe,” Abigail said, raising her voice, but not to Joe’s level. “Enlighten me on the oh-so-sucky life of a rock star that apparently I know nothing about.”
“There’s nothing you need to know,” Joe growled. “And why are you avoiding my question?”
“I don’t know what I like about Kevin,” Abigail said, pulling her body up from against the wall and beginning to take Joe’s place pacing across the elevator. “Maybe I like him because he’s sweet, and so caring, and he always takes the time to call me during the day, or stop by and bring me food, or leave coffee on my desk for me for when I get to work. Or maybe it’s just because he could never be half the ass his brother is!”
“Maybe you should take the time to get to know Kevin before you say all these things about him being so great!” Joe responded, reaching out and grabbing Abigail’s arm to stop her as she walked by him, turning her so that she was facing him. “And maybe you should take the time to get to know me too, so you can stop making all these dammn assumptions about me.”
“Fine Joe, tell me something I don’t know about yourself,” Abigail said, trying to rip her arm out of Joe’s grasp but not succeeding. “What are you dying to tell me about yourself, or better yet, your brother, so that you can convince me not to like him? Because it seems like that’s what you’re trying to do.”
Joe looked at Abigail for a moment, a somewhat angry and somewhat questioning look on his face, as if he was searching his head for a response to her latest attack. She waited for an answer, but after a moment of silence, Joe took his free hand and wrapped it around Abigail’s waist, pulling her up against him and pressing his lips to hers before she could register what was happening.
Abigail felt his lips aggressively against hers, and for a moment she was stunned, unsure what to do. She felt his grip loosen on her wrist, and then he let go of her arm completely and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Then, she felt her own hands slide themselves up his arms and wrap around his neck. Her head tilted to the side as his tongue drug along her bottom lip. She then allowed her lips to part as his tongue probed into her mouth. Joe then took a few steps forward, backing Abigail up against the wall as he dropped one of his hands to her thigh, running it up and down her leg.
Abigail moved one of her hands from the back of Joe’s neck up to his hair, and ran it through his curls as she raised her leg off of the ground, wrapping it around Joe and pulling him closer to her. He then placed his hand underneath her leg to steady her, using the wall to assist him. He let out a moan into her mouth as his hips collided with hers, but he made sure not to break his lips apart from hers.
Suddenly, Abigail realized what was happening and she quickly brought her leg back down to the ground, before bringing her hands to Joe’s shoulders and pushing him back away from her. He broke the contact between their mouths but didn’t let go of her waist, as she maintained her grip on his shoulders while they both breathed heavily.
“Joe...what...what was that?” Abigail asked, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She blinked a few times, trying to allow her breathing to return to normal. “I can’t...we can’t...”
“Why not?” Joe asked, before reattaching his lips to hers, sliding his tongue back into her mouth before she could stop him. She felt her arms once again wrap around his neck, unable to stop herself from letting her own tongue explore his mouth. He placed one hand against the wall of the elevator as he snaked another underneath her blouse, running it along the smooth, cool skin on her stomach and lower back.
“Because,” Abigail said as she pulled her mouth away from his, turning her head slightly so that she didn’t have to look at him, but not moving her hands from around his neck. “Your brother...”
“Abigail,” Joe said, taking the hand that was against the wall and moving it to her cheek, tilting her head back to face his own. She felt his fingers on her side rub against her skin, and she could feel her body tingling underneath his touch. “Nothing’s official, so you’re not...you’re not cheating on him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Abigail caught his gaze as he used his hand to softly force her head to face his. She saw nothing but desire in his eyes, and she felt her knees go slightly weak, finding herself helpless and unable to control the lust she had for him at that moment. She couldn’t think about Kevin, or about how wrong this was. All she could do was relish the feeling of his hand against her skin, and yearn for the taste of his lips.
“He doesn’t need to know,” Joe whispered, bringing her out of her trance, and she gulped and nodded before forcing her lips upon his once again. Almost as suddenly as this happened, however, the elevator jerked and the lights flickered on, forcing Joe to stumble backwards as Abigail brought her hand down to steady herself against the elevator wall. The elevator then began to move downwards and Abigail and Joe once again found themselves struggling to catch their breath. Abigail looked down at her bunched up shirt and tried to pull it down, before running her hands through her hair to make it look less messy. She then looked up at Joe and watched him do the same, her eyes pausing as they looked at his swollen, red lips. Joe then brought his gaze up to meet her own, just as the elevator door opened.
“Abigail,” Joe said as she began to walk out of the elevator, trying not to turn around and look at him. He quickened his pace as she began to move faster, reaching out and catching her arm to stop her. “Abigail, you should at least wait until the storm is over.”
“I can’t,” Abigail said, not sure what to do now. She looked at Joe again, but then forced herself to look away, knowing that she needed to get away from him soon before she let that part of her body take over again. She couldn’t allow herself to look into his eyes, knowing that the lust she felt for him wasn’t okay. She brought her mind to Kevin for a moment, and felt hurt pulse through her body as his face flooded her mind. Though she felt hurt, knowing that what she had done was wrong, she knew that she wasn’t feeling regret- only pain because she knew how badly this could hurt Kevin. As she realized this, she felt her body begin to shake. She didn’t know what to do, as Kevin’s face in her mind was replaced by Joe’s. “I need to go, Joe.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp before turning away from him and walking towards the door. Just as she reached the door, however, she turned around and looked back at him down the dark hallway, where he was still standing there, watching her leave.
“He can’t know, Joe,” Abigail said quietly. “He can never know” she continued to mutter, before walking out of the dark building into the storm outside
