Never Want to Let You Go

Recap:

JOE’S POV

6:36.

6:37.

6:38.

I could not sleep.

And usually it was a miracle to have me awake at such an early time.

But of course the one day I was up at a ridiculously early time, I didn’t have any interviews until the afternoon.

Nope, instead my mind was just flooded with thoughts.

Thoughts of Katy; thoughts of the previous day; and thoughts of how an innocent trip to the mall turned into something deep and emotional.

And these thoughts eventually led me to a revelation.

And that is what had me up at six o’freakin’ clock in the morning. A realization.

Even though this realization went against a promise I had made to Katy recently, I was going to do it.

But I would need some help to do it.

As I looked at the clock, again, and it flashed a bright red 6:41, I realized that it was going to be along time before I could get that help.

--

KATY’S POV

“Hey Nick,” I muttered as he opened his hotel door and let me in.

“Good morning,” he mumbled as he shut the door behind me, still clad in his pajamas.

My guess was that he had recently woken up.

“So where’s your girlfriend and my boyfriend?” I asked; the two had disappeared before I had gotten up.

“I honestly have no idea,” he replied. “Joe mumbled something about how he needed mom and Rita and that he would be back later.”

He shrugged his shoulders as my eyebrows rose in question.

“What?” He replied innocently. “It was really early in the morning. For all I know he could have said they were going scuba diving.”

“You’re a lot of help,” I chuckled as I took a seat at their dining room table.

“Why don’t you text them or call them or something?” He asked as he sat down across from me, taking a bite of a muffin that had been sitting on the table.

“I have, they’re not responding,” I replied, setting my phone down. I glanced over at Nick as a couple of crumbs fell onto his lap. “I guess it’s just you and me today, kiddo.”

“What did I do to deserve this?” He responded, sarcasm brewing in his voice.

“Jerk,” I chuckled before grabbing a banana from the table and chucking it at him.

This was going to be an interesting day. Just me and the youngest JoBro

--

JOE’S POV

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rita asked as our black SUV pulled into a parking lot.

I looked between Rita and my mom, studying their faces. My mother’s was pale in shock and Rita’s bore apprehension.

I turned to my mom, grabbing both of her hands in mine. “Mom, I love this girl. She’s so amazing, real, funny, beautiful, supportive,” I took a breath. “She’s perfect in every way, even her imperfects are perfect. I want to buy her the engagement ring that we looked at the other day; I need to buy her that ring. It’s perfect.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, though, Joe?” Rita asked. “After all the drama from yesterday, are you sure?”

“Yes,” I replied, my voice filled with certainty. “Like I said earlier, I’m not going to propose right now, or anytime in the near future. But I will someday, and I want it to be that ring.”

“But you’re so young,” Rita responded. “You guys haven’t been together that long. Buying that ring is a big commitment, regardless of when you propose.”

“You just don’t understand, it has to be that ring,” I responded, almost with a little irritation in my voice. “That ring felt right.”

I invited Rita here because she is Katy’s best friend and she is supposed to be supportive. My mom was supposed to be the skeptical one, not Rita.

“Some things you just know, Rita. I know that someday I will marry Katy,” I replied, honesty the only thing in my voice. “I have to do this.”

I heard my mom sniffle. “I can’t believe I’m going engagement ring shopping with my son today,” I watched as a tear escaped her eye. “I love you Joseph and I think you are making the right decision. I think Katy is a wonderful person who makes you very happy and I support your decision. Your father and I got married when we were very young. Young love can last.

“Rita, I understand your skepticism, but trust me, when you know, you know,” she added. “Joseph, I speak for both your father and I when I say this, you have our full support and we are very proud of you.”

I looked at Rita one last time.

“I will support this only because I know you truly love her,” she finally agreed, although I could still see a trace of apprehension in her eyes. “But you better treat her right. Until death do you guys part, by golly, you better treat her right.”

A wide grin came across my face. This was it.

--

Katy’s POV

“Yessss, Yahtzee again!” I cheered as all five of the dice revealed the same number.

“Pure luck,” Nick responded, determined to beat me at the game. “Or better yet, you some how rigged the game.”

I laughed. “’Cause it’s so easy to rig a game of Yahtzee.”

He joined in on the laughter. “See, you even admitted to it.”

We fell into a comfortable silence as he began his turn.

We sat in that comfortable silence for a while before Nick broke it.

“You really care about my brother, huh?” He asked, glancing over the Yahtzee board at me.

I nodded my head before I spoke. “Yeah, I do,” I thought about it for a moment. “I care about him more than I ever thought you could possibly care about someone.”

“That’s good,” he responded as the five dice hit the table. “I worry about him sometimes. I know he’s the jokester of the family, but when someone hurts him, he breaks down. I just like the reassurance of knowing that you really are here for him, not the fame or whatever.”

“He’s lucky to have you as a brother,” I smiled. “I can promise you that I have absolutely no intention of ever hurting him.”

“Good,” his face mirrored mine. “You make him really happy.”

We shared a moment for only a second longer before the hotel room door burst open to reveal an excited Joe and a quiet, thoughtful Rita.

“Opa!” Joe shouted, a wide grin on his face.

“What has gotten into you?” I asked, a little taken back by his excitement.

“Lovvvvvve,” he responded before pulling me into an awkward hug as I still remained in my chair.

“Um, okay,” I replied, not entirely shocked by his odd behavior.

“So where have you guys been anyway?” Nick asked, looking between the two.

Rita froze, a fearful look on her face.

“Rita wanted to get Nick something for his birthday,” Joe answered the questioned nonchalantly.

Rita almost sighed in relief. “Joe, you weren’t supposed to tell them.”

“Sorry!” He almost squealed. “I just couldn’t keep the secret.”

“But his birthday isn’t until September?” I asked as Rita rolled her eyes.

“That’s exactly what I said,” he smiled.

“So what did you get me?” Nick asked, a smirk on his face.

Rita rolled her eyes at him, an annoyed look on her face. It was a look that made me think she was annoyed at something beyond what Joe had just revealed. But before I could ponder it anymore, Joe was going off on a tangent about something that had happened in the mall.