It's rushed and short and probably not that good at all, but I tried. XD
This is for Bre. Breezy, I know things suck right now, but I hope it will get better soon. I'm here for you. <3
Walking on Broken Glass
“Joe, your cell phone has been ringing like crazy.”
The dark-haired teen looked up from the show he was watching from his bunk, the motion of the bus lulling him to sleep. “Has it?” he queried, somewhat groggy.
“Yeah. There’s only so many times we can hear the same thirty seconds of ‘All-American Girl’, no matter how much we love Carrie Underwood.” Kevin laughed, heading out and back into the main area of the bus. He appeared seconds later and tossed the still-ringing cell phone onto the top bunk. Joe caught it deftly and checked the display.
His eyes widened at the name flashing at him. He quickly flipped open the phone and pressed it to his ear. “Bre?”
He hadn’t heard from her in a few months, her being busy with school and he and his brothers occupied with the tour and recording their new CD. But she was always a cheerful, happy girl. So her first word gave Joe quite a shock.
“J-Joe…” Her voice was tearful, broken. He couldn’t see her face but he could just picture the tears streaming down her cheeks. Joe had no idea what was wrong but was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to hug and comfort her. He was so shocked, he didn’t respond for a second, but was jolted back by her somewhat frantic questioning if he was there.
“I am. I’m here, Bre.” He murmured.
“Oh thank goodness,” she continued, her voice wavering. “I was j-just so worried. All this, and then I couldn’t get a hold of you. I know we haven’t talked in a while and I can’t just expect you to drop everything and answer the phone, but I really needed to talk, and—“
“Bre.” Joe interrupted, silencing her anxious ramble. “It’s never a trouble to talk to you. You sound upset. What happened?”
He listened quietly to the shaky voice on the line, her crying making it difficult to talk without pauses. She trailed off uneasily, her discomfort clearly audible, even over the phone line, with thousands of miles in between them.
“Wow, Bre,” Joe said, feeling thunderstruck. “I…I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”
She sighed. “It’s not the end of the world, but it really hurts.”
“Yeah…” They trailed off into a lengthy, but not awkward, silence.
After a minute, Bre spoke up, her voice sounding just a bit stronger, to Joe’s relief as he watched Nick walk into the room, plopping down his bunk and shooting him a questioning look. “Joe, I’m getting another call. I’ll let you go…Thanks for listening to me.”
“I’m always here for you, Breezy.” He said warmly, smiling even though she couldn’t see it. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Joe sunk down into his pillow with a heavy sigh.
“You’re awfully serious,” Nick observed, his tone somewhat joking. His face dropped when Joe’s expression didn’t lighten. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with Bre?”
Joe didn’t feel like relaying the conversation. He suddenly didn’t have the energy to explain, and it felt a bit too personal for him to share. She would tell them when she was ready, if she was ready. Bre was friends with both of them as well, but had always been closest to Joe out of all of the brothers. Although, it wasn’t uncommon, Joe was really happy she came to him with her problem. He sometimes got the feeling that people relied on him only for comic relief.
“Yeah, but it’s not my problem to tell.”
Nick nodded in understanding. “That’s alright. Everything work out okay?”
Joe smiled slightly. “I think so. Or at least, it will be.” He paused, and then sat up straighter, suddenly struck with an idea. Nick watched, puzzled, as his older brother hopped off his bed and hurried towards the front of the bus.
“Oh, no, she’s out for a walk with her cousin right now,”
Joe’s shoulder’s sagged slightly as he stood on the front porch. “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
Bre’s mom pursed her lips. “I’m not really sure. They just left, and tend to stay out a while. They headed that way,” she added, waving in a direction down the street.
Joe thanked her and jogged back to the bus. Kevin looked up with a frown from his conversation with the driver. “Was she not there?”
“On a walk,” Joe sighed. “So much for the dramatic arrival.”
Nick glanced up. “Well, go find her.”
Joe stopped in his tracks and blinked. “Oh. Good call.”
Kevin, Nick, and the bus driver shook their heads with matching grins as Joe ran off the bus, taking off down the street at a fast pace.
It only took Joe ten minutes to find Bre and her cousin. The two of them had wandered to a park a few blocks down the street, sitting on the swings. Their feet dangled in the sand as they talked, their voices just a murmur to Joe as he approached.
Her cousin spotted him first. He had never met her before, but had a feeling it was Kati. Bre had mentioned her in some of their conversations. Kati nudged Bre lightly, and the dark-haired girl looked up, meeting his eyes.
“Joe!” Bre gasped, her hand slipping off the chain as she stood up off the swing in shock. “What are you doing here?” She grabbed his hand, leading him away from the swing set.
“I’m here to see you, of course,” he laughed. “Why else?”
“But your tour—“
“We had some time off, and we were in the area,” Joe shrugged. He blinked when he suddenly saw her eyes well up with tears.
“Joe…” she cried, hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s no big deal Bre. You’re hurting, and I’m here to help, as much as I can. It’s what any friend would do, really.”
“You’re not just any friend,” she murmured into his shirt, almost too quiet for him to hear. “You’re amazing Joe. I can’t believe you did this for me,”
Joe ran a hand through her hair softly. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming but clear. “I love you.”
It could have been said just as a friend, but something in the way she said it echoed of so much more. Still, he surprised himself by leaning down, cupping her face in his hands. “I love you too,” Her eyes fluttered closed, and Joe closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers gently. He pulled away for a second. “And I’ll always be just a phone call away.” They moved together again, deepening the kiss in a way that left them both breathless.
And as their hands twined at their sides, things were good. Everything may have been a mess, but when the two of them were together, it all worked out. Joe felt tears start to stream down Bre’s face again, but this time it was a release, not an expression of sadness. She squeezed his hand tightly and sighed into the kiss.
“Thank you, Joe.”
“Anytime, Bre.”
