Hey ya'll!! Here's my new fanfic, Just Friends. I sadly don't have a signature for it yet(Hint, hint), so use those active imaginations people! JK. ;-) Please comment and I welcome all suggestions!
Bop on,
Bri
Joe Jonas watched the 17-year-old girl on the soccer field in admiration. “I will never understand how you do that.” He called to her as she shot goal after goal.
“You’re not supposed to.” She panted, jogging over for a water break. “You’re a guy.”
“Ouch.” Joe teased, handing her the baby sitting beside him.
“Hey baby boy.” The girl made faces at the baby, who giggled in return.
“I didn’t know you cared.” Joe put a hand over his heart in mock sadness. “All these years and I never knew.”
“I was talking to Ryan, smarty.” The girl sat beside him, leaning against him while she played with the 9-month-old baby sitting before her.
“Well, now I feel extra special.” Joe retorted. “Have a heart, Nat.”
Natalie laughed. “You are extra special. Ryan agrees, right Ry?” She turned to the baby in front of her, who blew a raspberry in reply.
Joe shrugged. “Close enough for me.”
Natalie stood, picking up Ryan and setting him on her hip. “Let’s go. I’m exhausted.”
“You okay?” Joe asked, concerned as Natalie pulled her blonde hair from the long ponytail.
She yawned. “I’m fine, just tired. Ryan didn’t sleep well last night.” She leaned on him again as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’ll have a Red Bull or two and be fine. Though I wouldn’t have made it last night without Mr. Coffee.” She admitted.
“Who would?” Joe asked, buckling Ryan in his seat as they reached Natalie’s car that was parked at the edge of the field, neither of them noticing the photographer following them.
“You, probably.” Nat teased, starting the car.
“Ouch Nat.” Joe would have elbowed the slim girl beside him if she hadn’t been driving.
“Do you want me to drop you off at the bus?” She asked, navigating the Charlotte traffic with ease.
“Yeah. I’m sorry we have to leave so soon though.” The Jonas family was leaving North Carolina to continue with the tour the next day.
“Me too.” Nat looked sad as she pulled up beside the hotel.
“Stay.” Joe urged his best friend as she started to say good-bye. “Mom, Dad and Frankie went to the Discovery Place for the morning, but should be back soon and Nick and Kevin would love to see you.” Natalie hesitated briefly. “Please?” He added, donning the puppy dog eyes, he knew she couldn’t resist.
“Just for a few minutes.” She conceded, opening the door and unbuckling Ryan.
“Nick, Kevin!” Joe called through the hotel room, as he stepped aside, letting Natalie in. “I brought Natalie with me!”
“Hey Nat!” Kevin greeted her with a hug before he took Ryan away from her.
“Hey Kevs.” She used her special nickname for him as Nick entered the room. “Nick!” The two old friends hugged each other quickly before the door opened, allowing Frankie and Mr. and Mrs. Jonas into the hotel room.
Frankie yelled and hugged Natalie’s legs before she picked him up and gave him a proper hug. “I missed you!” Frankie yelled making Natalie wince.
“Frankie, be nice to Natalie.” Mrs. Jonas scolded her youngest son as she hugged Natalie as well.
“Natalie, how’ve you been?” Mr. Jonas, or Uncle Kevin, as he was known to Natalie, asked her.
“It’s been wild.” Natalie admitted, taking a seat on the couch as her son was passed around the Jonas family. “Denise, I don’t know how you did it. I have enough trouble taking care of my one and you have four.”
“Plus you.” Denise added, her eyes sparkling.
Natalie blushed. “Plus me.” Ever since she and Joe were two, they had been best friends, living across the street from each other in New Jersey. When Natalie was 13, her parents moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. She had become pregnant 18 months before, during a party when something had been slipped into her coke and her boyfriend took advantage. A month after Ryan was born; her parents had been killed in a car accident, leaving her a struggling single mother. Josh, her ex, had been paying child support, but then started using it to as a reason to contact her. That had gone on for several weeks until she told him to forget it. Contact, their relationship, the child support, the whole thing. Natalie had moved into an apartment with the little money she had, barely scraping together the month’s rent. Joe had offered to help several times, but Natalie had always refused, being determined to do it on her own.
A silence fell over the group as Ryan was passed from person to person. After a minute he started to whimper, until he was passed to Natalie, who pulled out a bottle and began to feed him. Joe watched his best friend carefully, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, visible even under her makeup. The group laughed as Ryan pulled away from the bottle to blow a raspberry at Denise, who was sitting beside Natalie making faces at the little boy.
“You’re an amazing mom.” Denise told her as Natalie stood Ryan up on her knees.
“And that’s coming from the queen of mothers.” Natalie joked, trying to hide the blush that spread across her cheeks. She glanced at her watch, adjusting Ryan in her arms, pulling her waist length hair out of his grasp. “I’d better go. It’s been great to see all of you.”
“Stay.” Joe and Frankie whined together, making Natalie laugh.
“I wish I could.” Natalie said sadly, glancing around the hotel room.
“Then do.” Joe urged.
“Well-“ Natalie hesitated.
“C’mon Nat.” Kevin begged. “I’ll get down on my hands and knees if I have to.”
“Do it.” Natalie dared him. “And I’ll stay.” Kevin did, and for good measure, pulled Joe down with him.
“Looks like you don’t have a choice.” Nick teased.
Natalie fake-pouted and, after hanging Ryan to Denise, climbed onto Joe’s lap, just like she did when she was little. “Aww.” Nick, Kevin, and Frankie chorused.
“Oh shut it.” Joe said, while Natalie stuck her tongue out at the three.
Frankie turned on Disney Channel and ‘You Are the Music in Me’ began to play. Kevin bowed in front of Natalie. “May I have this dance?” He asked in a horrible English accent.
“Why of course you may.” Natalie replied in an equally bad accent. Kevin took her hand and they began to skip around the room, making everyone laugh.
“Can you do dance in the cafeteria part of ‘What Time Is It’?” Nick asked.
“A little bit.” Natalie rested a hand on her hip and watched him. “Do you know it?”
“Yeah, do you want me to show you?” Nick offered.
“Yeah.” Natalie pulled him to his feet and showed him what she knew.
“Okay, here’s how the rest of it goes.” Nick showed her and she mimicked him. Joe teased them mercilessly, earning several glares from Natalie.
“I’d like to see you try, Joseph.” She challenged.
“Teach it to me.” Joe stood up beside her and Nick and together they taught it to him, laughing at themselves when one of them messed up.
“You’re good.” Kevin commented, watching Natalie.
“Thank you.” Natalie panted, doing the entire dance for the third time, teaching it to Nick and Joe.
“So it goes like this?” Joe placed his hands on her hips as they went opposite directions, then separated and linked hands, spinning around in a circle.
“And we have success!” Natalie threw her hands in air as soon as they finished the dance.
“I’m not that bad.” Joe protested, throwing a Red Bull to Natalie, who caught it gracefully.
“Wanna bet?” Natalie teased.
“Are you coming to the concert tonight?” Natalie’s ‘Uncle Kevin’ broke in, aborting another one of Natalie and Joe’s famous ‘arguments’.
“What concert?” Natalie asked, turning on Joe with a glare. “Why didn’t I know about the concert, Joseph?”
“The concert tonight.” Joe said nervously, backing out of the kitchen and away from Natalie. “I was going to tell you about it.” When she raised an eyebrow, he continued quickly. “Really!”
“You better run!” Natalie raced after him, chasing him into the bedroom where she tackled him, flying both of them onto the bed, Natalie on top of Joe. She shrieked as he tickled her, flipping them over, so he was sitting on her, finding her most ticklish spots. When he stopped to let her breathe, she gasped, “So, why didn’t I know about the concert?”
Joe got off of her and lay next to her on his stomach, propping his chin on his linked hands. “Because I was going to surprise you with backstage passes.”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding!”
“Nope. You’ll come?” Joe begged, moving his chin to her shoulder, adding the puppy eyes.
“And miss you making me proud?” She smiled at her best friend, running a hand through his wavy hair. “Never.”
“Good.” Joe shifted as Natalie rolled over, laying on her back beside Joe. Several minutes later a hilarious game of ‘Remember When’ broke out between the two.