A Simple Love Story. Not!

After 20 minutes of constant smiling on Joe’s end and constant blushing on mine, we finally made it to Epcot for all of our dates and my blushing abruptly ended from Joe’s yelling at me to stay in the car for a few seconds.

What the hell?

I got my answer a few seconds later though when Joe ran over to my side of the vehicle and he opened the door for me, took my hand, and gently escorted me from the car.

My head was spinning and I could feel my heart in my throat from that simple gesture that he just did for me. And the fact he had the most adorable smile on his face made it all the more unbelievable that this was really happening.

I was really on a date with Joe.
My best friend.
Who was amazing in every possible way.

“Thanks.” I said while looking towards the ground as he shut the door behind me, trying to hide my blushing cheeks, even though I was pretty sure he had already seen them.

“You are very welcome.” Joe’s soft voice surrounded me, and I was barely able to contain a giggle at his response before looking up at him. “But you gotta wait for me sometimes so I can do this stuff for you.”

“Sorry.” I mumbled while looking down at the ground again. “I’m just not used to it that’s all.”

His other hand softly touched my chin and pulled it up so I could see his face and he whispered, as if it was supposed to be just a secret between the two of us, “Well you better get used to it.”

Even though I was completely ecstatic right now from everything that just happened and what he just said, I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by that. Did that mean we were going to be dating? Or was he saying it to be absolutely and incredibly adorable? Because if that was the case, he already won and I would gladly give him his prize.

“Can we PLEASE get out of the parking lot now? I’m hungry.” I heard Frankie say from somewhere off in the near distance, pulling me out of Joe’s eyes and looking around to see everyone around us all giving us knowing looks. Well, Ally and Duckie had disbelief on their faces, but they looked like they wanted to skip their nights to have girl talk with me about what had happened within the last half hour between Joe and myself and Nick had an all knowing smirk on his face. I couldn’t tell if he knew something that I didn’t know about tonight, or if he was excited about taking Ally on their ‘Non-Serious-All-Fun’ date tonight. But either way, I cleared my throat and said, “Yeah. Let’s get going little man” and took a step forward to get Joe to move and to signal to everyone else we should probably get going.

I barely walked two feet though before I felt a tug on my hand, signaling me to stop and I turned towards Joe with a confused look on my face and asking him a soft what?

“You really look amazing tonight. I just thought you should know.” he stated before moving in quickly and leaving a light kiss on my cheek that sent me up to Cloud 9. I faintly felt him tug on my arm to get me to walk and my body went on autopilot since my mind was elsewhere.

I didn’t really know what had all of sudden gotten into Joe, with him acting all boyfriend-ly and stuff, but I wasn’t going to complain in the slightest bit. I finally was getting what I wanted and I wasn’t going to hold it against him. If anything, I would gladly hold him against me if it happened to be in the agenda for the night.

“We’ll see you guys later, we’re heading off to dinner now.” I heard Nick say, which brought me out of my dream land of Joe and I getting married and having kids together. I snapped my head over to Nick to see him and my little sister’s fingers laced together and walking quickly away from us. Nick looked over his shoulder though right when I was about to look away and sent me a grin and wink before turning back around and started talking to Ally about something.

I barely kept my laughter in, but thankfully Frankie yelled, “Norway! Here we come!” and took off with Duckie with his fist held high in the air.

I chuckled a little bit, but I soon stopped upon hearing Joe’s soft laugh and I couldn’t help but look at him.

He is amazing. No. Amazing wasn’t a good enough word. Perfect? No. He’s way beyond perfect to be just called perfect. I’ll have to come up with a new word in the dictionary for him. Maybe a combination of words like…perfect, incrediable and amazing…so he would be percreding. Except….that word just sounds gross. And gross is definitely not Joe.

While I stood there, staring at him and trying to come up with a new word to describe him I subconsciously noticed that he was looking at me, causing me to freak out once it actually hit me that I was probably freaking him out since I was staring at him for so long with a confused look on my face.

Say something…anything. Right now before you make yourself look even more like a dumbass. Now. Say anything. Right now.

“Are you ok?”

Too late…already succeeded at failing to speak.

“Huh…yeah…ummm…” I stumbled. Damn him and his amazing self for getting me all flustered and tongue tied. “So…where are you taking me?”

I mentally slapped myself in the head, and when he turned around to look in what direction we had to go, I did slap myself in the forehead for being so stupid.

“This way!” he said excitedly before tugging me back in the direction we had already walked in and then said, “You’ll see.”

We walked hand in hand in content silence, just taking in the smells and noises that surrounded us. It was gorgeous out right now and even thought there was a slight breeze that would normally make goosebumps rise up on my arms, having Joe’s hand wrapped in mine made my whole body feel like it was on fire.

I looked down at our hands for a second before glancing back up at Joe’s face before looking down at our hands and my smile grew wider on my face.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed that our fingers were laced together. But maybe that was because they fit perfectly.

I wanted to wiggle my fingers between his, just to make sure that this was real, but he might take that as a sign that I didn’t want to hold hands when that was clearly not the case. I wanted to be goofy and play with our hands since our hands where connected. Our hands were laced together. Our hands were combined right now to be one.

Stop it! You’re getting over him! Remember! But after vacation I could get over him….if he doesn’t ask me out. I’m gonna enjoy this as long as I have it right now.

I continued to fight with myself for a few extra minutes but stopped when Joe pulled on my hand and steered me in the direction of the Mexican Pavilion and I chuckled to myself about how I was thinking he could take me to Taco Bell a half hour ago and be fine with that. That boy sure knew how to read my mind….sometimes.

It was pretty cool inside. The lights were dim to give it a more romantic feel to it and there were musicians playing with sombreros on their heads. On the table, which were just big enough for two people to sit at, were little fake candles in the center and around the tables was a river that ran throughout the pavilion that you could ride in a boat.

I barely noticed that we walked over the little bridge to get to the platform with the tables on it until Joe pulled his hand away from mine, but only to pull out my chair.

“Take your seat Madame.” He said in a slight accent while bowing low and I couldn’t help but giggle slightly before curtseying and saying, “Thank you” and taking my seat.

“This is really nice. I’m glad you took me here Joe.” I said after I was able to calm myself from receiving one of his most gorgeous smiles ever.

“I thought it was pretty cool too. Plus, we can ride in the boats so after dinner, maybe we could go on one?”

“Sounds great.” I said with a smile before picking up the menu to hide myself from him.

I was pretty sure I was red as a tomato because I was trying to contain every little giggle that wanted to come out. And I’m pretty sure that if I would’ve let them all out, Joe would’ve thought I was a giggling idiot who couldn’t control myself around him. Plus, conversation probably would’ve been really dull since every time he would ask me something, my response would be a giggle.

Yeah, I wasn’t going to be that kinda girl tonight. I wanted to be the girl that Joe would finally open his eyes and think, ‘Ya know…she’s great. I want her to have my babies’ and who knows….maybe we’d get married tonight. It’d be a great little story to tell the kids when their older.

Oh my god. I sound like a crazy stalker fan or something. I need to get a hold of myself. For all I know…this could just be a dinner with a friend to Joe and not a date or anything potential relationship afterwards.

I didn’t want to get my hopes up. So I’d have to get a grip on my feelings and myself and bring myself down. Sure, I could enjoy it…but no thinking of the future with him. No more married thoughts or children. No more of it! It was just dinner with Joe, my best friend. That’s it. Clear, cut and dry.

Dinner went by increasingly slow, and the conversation seemed forced. Maybe it was because me and my stupid self trying to not get my hopes up, but thinking about it anyways. Actually, I take back that maybe, because it was in fact, me being the reason that dinner went by so awkwardly.

At this rate, I wouldn’t even want to think about dating me right now.

I really needed to get my shit together and not think about Joe romantically anymore because it was ruining our time together.

I took a deep breath as Joe paid for dinner and pushed everything, every small little detail I thought of about how our relationship would be, and just focused on being me. The girl that Joe loved, as a friend. If I couldn’t have him the way I wanted him, I might as well take him the way he was offering.

“Boat ride now?” Joe asked a little skeptically and I could tell how….nervous he was about asking that question and I wanted to smack myself.

He wasn’t even sure he wanted to spend time with me because I was acting so weird.

Great.

“Yes, but only if you don’t get sea sick cuz I’m not cleaning you up afterwards.” I said with a smile and Joes’ face instantly lit up from my crack on him.

“I won’t get sea sick. We’re not going to be in the sea.”

“Same difference.” I shot back at him as we moved to get up from our seat and went over to where you get into the boats.

After we both got situated in the tiny little boat, we sat in content silence and I, of course, was gushing inside from him having his right arm around my shoulders and him still holding my hand with his left hand from when we got into the boat.

Let’s just say we’re lucky that it didn’t capsize when we got in.

“What are you thinking?” Joe whispered in my ear, having goosebumps rise quickly on my skin and a shiver run down by back.

I loved that feeling. And I loved that he was the one giving it to me.

I smiled widely as I turned my head to look at him, giving us only a few inches, if that, between our faces before saying, “How great and romantic this all is. I’m having a great time with you. Thanks.”

He smiled back at me before nodding his head once and that’s when I asked him what he was thinking about.

“I’m thinking….hmmm….” he trailed off while looking around the pavilion before looking back at me. “I’m thinking about how small this boat is and it’s making my legs cramp up.”

I burst into laughter at his statement, and I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to. I leaned up and kissed his cheek quickly while saying, “You surprise the heck out of me ” while letting out a laugh.

“Why do you say that?” he shot back at me, seeming offended by what I said but I continued to laugh for a few seconds before responding to him.

“Well, you’re just. Please don’t take this the wrong way…” I started. “But all of this is so romantic, and I really enjoy it, plus we finally get some time to hang out one-on-one, but you’re more…I don’t know…crazy? Than this.” I finished while looking at him, hoping I didn’t hurt his feelings to much, or that my statement at least made a little bit of sense.

“I know I’m crazy, but I’m trying to be more romantic after everything that happened today.”

“But why?” I shot back at him. “Everyone loves you and knows you for your craziness.”

“Well, after hearing your sis-”

I put my hand over his mouth to get him to stop what he was going to say before saying, “Joe, don’t listen to her. She was just upset with Nick and just dragged you into it. I love that you’re crazy. It’s what makes you, you! Yeah, every once in a while it would be great for your romantic side to come out, but don’t change because of what she says. Be who you want to be, and be happy. Don’t be something that you’re not.”

I stared at me for a few seconds before turning his head away to think.

I took in a deep breath and let it out. I knew something like this would happen because of my sister. Joe wants to be the whole package for a girl, and he doesn’t even know that he doesn’t have to be. He’s crazy and can make people laugh and most of the time, girls want that way more than romance. At least, I know I do. But that’s besides the point. Even his fans love him because he’s the crazy one and he can make them laugh. It’s who he is.

It was probably the best thing about him, other than his kissing capabilities, but nobody besides me really needed to know that.

“Thanks Steph.” I heard him say to me, and then look over at me. “I don’t know what I was thinking listening to your sister. But how about I be my goofy self 95% of the time and the remaining 5% I’ll try and be romantic.”

I laughed slightly before nodding my head and saying, “I think I can deal with that.”

He smiled widely at my statement before pulling me into him by my hand and kissing the top of my head and we sat like that through the rest of the boat ride, smiles on both of our faces.

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After we had gotten off the boat, and Joe ran around like a crazy person to stretch out his legs for 20 minutes, we ran into Nick and Ally, Joe literally ran into Nick, who looked like they were having the greatest time of their life.

No, they were really weren’t by the way.

Nick looked like he was amused because a ticked off Ally was playing with the tomagotchi that he had gotten her earlier.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Nick asked after getting the air back in his lungs from Joe’s tackle.

“Not much, just waiting for the fireworks to start. What about you?” Joe asked, taking deep breaths from him constant running and then having one of his arms drape over my shoulders.

“Same here. Actually, I have to run to the bathroom really quick. Be right back.” He stated and then jogged off to the nearest pavilion and disappearing inside of it while Ally let out a loud sigh.

“So, what’s up?” I asked Ally, trying to hold my laughter in from seeing how frustrated she looked with the Tomagotchi. I still couldn’t believe got her one.

“This stupid thing won’t stop crying!” she shouted, making both Joe and I jump from her outburst.

“Cool, can I play with it?” Joe asked and I shook my head while letting out a small laugh.

Only he would want to play with something that clearly, won’t be easy to do. Maybe that’s a good sign though, he’ll be a good father some day.

Ally practically threw the thing at Joe the second his offer flew out of his mouth and she let out an angry sigh after Joe walked a few feet away, pushing away at the few buttons that were on the red plastic.

“Why are you so mad?” I asked her, even though I knew exactly why she was upset.

“He took me, to Canada.” She stated through gritted teeth and anger shooting from her eyes. I bit my lip to keep my giggle in that would’ve given it away that I was the mastermind behind Nick’s “All-fun” date.

“Wow, that um. That sounds like so much fun.” I said, trying to cover up my laughter and when all she did was shoot back with, “Oh yeah, loads of fun” laced with sarcasm.

“Well that’s good.” Joe randomly said, popping up next to us suddenly. “At least you got what you wanted.” Not even looking up from the plastic toy that was in his hands.

Ally simply rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest as Nick ran over to us asking why Joe had their ‘baby’ in a fake upset tone.

I think I bite my tongue trying to keep that laugh in.

“Because he’s our new babysitter!” Ally said back to him in a sickingly sweet voice.

And at that moment, a little blur ran past us, stopped a few feet away from us, turned around and yelled, “You’ll never get me alive!!” while holding a plastic sword into the air with a Viking Helmet on his head.

“You watch me! I’ll get you General Frankie!” Duckie yelled back, from behind us who also was wearing a Viking helmet and had a sword before taking off towards Frankie and they both ran off into the sea of people.

I started laughing a few seconds later after everything hit because there was so much going on.

Nick pretending to be upset that Ally gave their ‘baby’ away to Joe who apparently is their babysitter while Ally really is upset. Joe completely enamored by the little plastic toy and Duckie and Frankie running around Epcot with plastic attire on.

This day just kept getting better and better.
“Well,…” Nick said after letting out a loud sigh. “Since we don’t have the baby, let’s go to Morocco!”

“Yeah, let’s go. I’m so excited.” Ally stated monotone while turning around and walking away from us towards Morocco.

“I thought…” I started but Nick cut me off to tell me that he was taking her Italy, like we planned, but told her Morocco to throw her off. I didn’t want her to have too bad of a night even though it’s what she claimed she wanted. But we knew better. She wanted the romance and everything, so Italy was the place they would go to for dessert.

I nodded my head in understanding and Nick took off after Ally, telling her about all the desserts Morocco had and how much fun they will have.

I turned to Joe then, only to see him with a confused look on his face and when I told him that Nick and I planned this whole “All fun” date, that he was going to take her to Italy for dessert but told her Morocco to throw her off.

He nodded his head to indicate he understood and then about five seconds later asked if we could go get one of the Viking helmets cuz they were ‘so cool’.

“Just as long as we go back to the truck to get a blanket. I’m starting to get cold.” I stated to him as we started walking towards Norway.

“Or I could just hold you close and warm you up.” Joe said with a smirk on his face and raising his eyebrow while he shoved Nick and Ally’s ‘baby’ into his pocket.

I let out a small laugh before saying, “As appealing as that sounds, you won’t want to do that for the rest of the night cuz when I get cold, I stay cold until I get a sweatshirt or blanket on me.”

“Well, I know that there’s no blankets in the truck, but we can go back to Mexico and get you one of those blankets. They’re so cool.”

I opened my mouth to fight with him about him buying a blanket, but I knew better than to argue with Joe about stuff like that, so I just nodded my head and said, “Ok, let’s go get a helmet for you, and a blanket for me before the fireworks start!” and then took off towards Norway; Joe yelling at me that I cheated because I didn’t count to three.

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The firework and water show was absolutely incredible but I think I liked the seating arrangements between Joe and myself.

Nick and Ally had found a bench to sit on while Joe sat in front of it and leaned up against it, pulling me down to sit in between his legs and then tossed the blanket over us to keep me warm. From sitting like this, he was at the perfect height to give me random kisses on the head and sometimes on the cheek whenever he felt like it, and to have his hands wrapped around my waist which made me warm enough on its own without the blanket. Duckie and Frankie sat by the tree that was next to us, but Frankie, somehow, fell asleep during the fireworks in her lap. The kid never ceased to amaze me with his sleeping capabilities.

Although Joe was giving me the attention that one would expect to see between a boyfriend and girlfriend, we still were not dating. He didn’t ask me out or anything, and oddly, I was ok with that. I was going to get over him anyways when we all went our separate ways after vacation and I wouldn’t be tempted by his handsome good looks and those beautiful smiles he threw my way. But either way, I was able to keep all of those thoughts of marriage and relationships with him to a non-existent level.

Trust me, it almost killed me to not think like that whenever he bent down to give me a soft kiss on my cheek that left my skin tingling for what felt like hours.

After the fireworks finished though, I had to get out of my comfy position with Joe, and we all made our way back to the truck, only for Joe to spring one last minute idea on us. Actually, on me.

“There’s one more place I want to go tonight. Do you guys think you could take the shuttle back to the hotel so I can take Steph to our last place?”

I was torn between saying no and begging the others to say yes because I wanted to hold on to the last few hours of the day with Joe. I didn’t want our time to come to an end yet now that I was able to keep myself in check and avoid any awkward moments between us. But I knew how tired everyone was and I’m sure they didn’t want to wait around for 15 minutes of a bus to pick them up and take them back to the hotel.

But apparently they were all too tired to even argue with Joe so they slowly turned around and started walking back towards the main entrance to wait for the shuttle while Joe yelled a thank you to them before unlocking and opening my door.

“I know you’re going to love it.” he stated to me after we left the Epcot grounds and he quickly reached over and grabbed my hand to squeeze it before letting it go and repeating himself with a smile on his face.

He pretty much did that for the whole 15 minutes it took to park in an almost abandoned parking lot and shutting the truck off.

“Joe, are you sure this is safe? There’s only one other car here and-”

“Steph, it’s fine. Trust me.” he stated while reaching into the back and grabbing the blanket he had bought me before exiting the car and making his way around to my side and opening the door for me to exit.

“Are you sure I’m gonna like this?” I asked, looking around to see if anyone was walking in the shadows and seeing the truck being left alone in the parking lot with the other car a few feet away.

“Positive.” Was the only thing he said to me while grabbing my hand and making my nerves go away somewhat.

I still didn’t like the idea of nobody knowing where we were going, and being the only other vehicle in the parking lot except for one other car. Plus, it was dark as hell and there weren’t too many light poles in the direction Joe was steering me in.

“Joe, are you sure this is safe?” I asked him, letting my nerves get the best of me, even though Joe had laced his fingers through mine. It wasn’t giving me the same comfort it did before.

“Of course it’s safe Steph. You’re with me.” he said, giving me a smile and squeezing my hand softly to get rid of my nerves.

“That’s not a selling point Joe since nothing is safe with you.” I said, cracking a smile in the darkness and trying to calm my nerves.

“Cheap shot” was all he said, but I could tell he was smiling. It was in his voice and even though I couldn’t see it, it put my nerves at ease a little bit since he was so confident on where he was going, even though it was almost pitch black now.

“What’s that noise?” I asked as we walked over what felt like a grassy hill. Joe didn’t say anything, all he did was smile at me, since my eyes were adjusting to the darkness and all of a sudden bolt up the hill to get to the top and show me his surprise that he knew I would love.

And love it I did.

“Oh my gosh…” I said while bringing one of my hands up to my mouth and looking down at the bottom of the hill that we were on. “You took me…” I couldn’t believe my eyes were tearing up right now, but I couldn’t believe he actually took me here. Let alone remembered me saying how badly I wanted to go.

“You took me to the beach.” I finally was able to say before I jumped him for a hug.

“I remember you saying how badly wanted to go to an ocean beach when we first found out about this trip and I just kinda stuck with me. I wanted to be the one to take you to your first real beach. So, here we are.” He stated after I let him go to look out over the ocean that was before me.

It was absolutely beautiful. I didn’t want to move because it looked so beautiful and serene but when Joe said, “Well, let’s go.” I practically bolted down the hill, after taking my flip flops off.

I tossed them off the side when my feet hit the soft velvety sand and ran straight for the water, bringing up the hem of my dress so it didn’t get too wet.

I was finally on a beach. A real beach. Not a beach that’s part of a lake, but a beach that’s touching the ocean. And I’m in the ocean.

It was perfect and Joe was right.

I absolutely loved it.

“Come on!” I yelled over to Joe after I was done gazing out at the black ocean before me, when I saw him just looking at me from where he laid down the blanket.

I motioned for him with my hand when he didn’t move and he finally bent over to take off his shoes and then took off for the water, not slowing down at all until he scooped me up and made his way deeper into ocean.

“Don’t even think about it Joe!” I yelled at him when I saw the smirk on his face. “Don’t you dare throw me, I’ll kill you and you know it’s true!” I yelled at him, wrapping my arms around him for dear life.

If he was going to throw me, he was coming in with me.

He walked in to where the water met his middle thigh and stopped, still smirking at me.

“Put me down Joe!” I stated and then realized my bad choice of words when he opened his mouth. “On my feet!” I quickly added. Knowing that he would’ve said I told him to drop me and then I would be soaking wet for the rest of the night until we got back to the hotel.

His smirk disappeared while he let out a sigh and put me down on my feet, the water touching all the way up to the top of my leg.

“Oh my god it’s freezing!” I yelled and ran out as fast as I could and made it back to the blanket with my dress now half wet.

“So what now?” I asked him when he finally made his way out of the water and over to the blanket that I was laying on with my elbows.

“I don’t know. Want to teach me some more constellations?” he asked while taking a seat and leaning on his elbows as well.

I looked up at the sky then, and noticed how bright all the stars were. I’d never seen them so bright before, but then again I lived in the city. It’s always easier to see them when there’s no lights around you.

“Sure, let’s see.” I stated and laid down on my back, bringing my hands up to rest on my stomach and Joe did the same.

“You know Ursa Major right?” I asked him, scanning the sky to find the constellation.

“Huh?” was his response and I laughed a little bit at him before saying, “Sorry, the Big Dipper.”

“Yeah, it’s right there.” He said quickly and pointing it out to me.

“Ok, good. Now find Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper.” I instructed, smiling widely while looking at him laying next to me.

This was perfect. Even though we weren’t together, I still got to settle for second best. He was my best friend and he treated me great for being his friend.

I loved him, yes, but I loved him enough to respect the fact that we were never going to be together and that I wouldn’t push him into anything he didn’t want. He knew I loved him, there wasn’t much more I could do other than be there if he changed his mind on having a relationship with me.

“It’s right there!” Joe yelled, bringing me out of my thoughts and making me look away from him to look up at the sky to see what he was pointing at.

“Good Job! Now, you see that star, right there?” I asked him, pointing to the one I was talking about.

He simply nodded his head while bringing his hand up next to mine and pointing at the same star while asking, “That one?”

“Yep, that one is Polaris. It’s the brightest star in the sky. Also known as the North Star.”

“Polaris. Cool.” Was all he said and then it feel silent between us while I tried finding another constellation I remembered from Astronomy class. But Joe’s arm shot up into the air and he yelled, “Hey! It’s that fuzzy thing again, that galaxy! What’s it called again?” he asked, causing me to jump at his exclamation.

He muttered a sorry from seeing me jump before I said that it was the Andromeda Galaxy. “I’m surprised you even remembered that it was a galaxy.” I said to him with a small chuckle.

“Well, you’re a good teacher.” He said and turned his head towards me. I turned my head towards him from seeing him out of my peripheral and smiled at him while he sent me a small smile.

I wanted to kiss him so bad right then. It took all my strength to hold myself back and not kiss him under the stars on the beach that he’d taken me to for a surprise.

He leaned a little closer to him, causing my eyes to widen slightly from his actions. Sure, he’d kissed my head and cheek a lot tonight, but I didn’t think he’d actually kiss me.

“I promise that we’ll get a telescope and look at it together” he whispered, as if it was secret between the two of us that no one else could hear.

I nodded my head and then looked up at the stars, mentally yelling at myself for thinking that he would kiss me.

Of course he wouldn’t! He doesn’t see me like that! God, I’m stupid.

“That would be really cool. It’s gonna look amazing. It’s said to be one of the most beautiful things to see.” I quickly said, getting my mind off of Joe and focusing on the stars again and wondering what it would look like to see it.

I faintly heard Joe say something but I couldn’t actually hear what he said and when I asked him, he sighed out, “Nothing.” Almost as if he was disappointed in me not hearing his comment.

“Come on, tell me.” I said, playfully nudging him in the arm with my elbow, only to cause him to lean up on his elbows and look down at me.

He let out another sigh, looking away from me briefly before saying, “You said it’s said to be one of the most beautiful things, and I said, ‘Like you’”

I bit my lip and shook my head, only to keep myself from laughing in his face.

Oh Joe, I do love you, but I know you’re just playing with me right now. Come on, I’m not that love sick to actually believe that.

“What?” he asked me from my actions and I simply shook my head once more before saying, “It’s cute, really, what you said is cute, but me? Really? Come on Joe. It’s kinda hard for me to believe that.”

“Why is that hard for you to believe?” he shot back at me. “You’re beautiful.” He said more matter of factly while sitting up straight now.

Hmmm…why don’t I believe you….wow….I don’t know. There’s no reason to not believe you other than the fact that you’re never said it before, you’re still not with me, and let’s see…can I shoot for number 3? Oh…only my family has said it to me. And your family only says it because it’s you’re family.

“Joe, I’m only pretty when I get my hair curled and put on a dress. I’m not anything unless I get dolled up.” I said as nicely as possible to not get him mad or anything before I looked back up at the stars to indicate I was done with this conversation.

“Well I think you’re beautiful all the time.” He shot back at me, causing me to let out a puff of air, while rolling my eyes and saying, “Ok, Joe” dripping with sarcasm.

He let out an irritated groan from my response and I sat up and asked him why he was getting so mad about something as stupid as this.

“Because it’s not stupid and you are beautiful. You always have been since the day I met you. You…” he trailed off and then before I knew it and could stop it from happening, he grabbed my face and kissed me roughly.

It didn’t last for more than 3 seconds and when I pulled away I asked him what just happened.

“We were kissing. And then you pulled away and asked me what happened and now I’m explaining that we just kissed” he explained, still dangerously close to my face.

I couldn’t wrap my head around this. This is what I’ve wanted this whole time tonight, but I didn’t think I would actually get it. It was too difficult for me to believe right now. I couldn’t believe it right now.

Joe didn’t like me like that. I was his best friend. But then why did he just kiss me?

“But, why?” was all I was able to say.

“Because you didn’t believe me that you are beautiful. And you are. You deserve to know you are. You’re one of the most beautiful girls I know Steph, inside and out. I just wanted you to know that you are and I want you to believe it.

I still couldn’t believe this. Joe kissed me because I was beautiful? That’s it? That’s the reason why he kissed me? If I would’ve known that I could’ve just said that months ago to have him kiss me.

My head hurts.

I couldn’t think because he was too close and my heart was pounding in my ears. His smell was intoxicating and his touch was exhilarating. I couldn’t think straight when he was around which was probably why I was looking at him with a confused face at the moment.

But when I didn’t say anything to him and continued to look him confused, he slowly leaned forward and connected our lips together again. This time, it was a lot softer. More gentle. And a lot more nice.

But it was over just as fast as the first one, but this time he was the one to pull away. And that’s when I got frustrated.

My lack of response to his kiss and to what he said made him pull away from me and that made me mad. Not mad at him, at myself.

Who cares if it makes it harder in the long run to get over him. I wanted this and if this was the only time I was going to get it, then so be it. But he was already pulling away from me to be a normal distance away and that made me more frustrated.

Everything was catching up to me now, how Joe just called me beautiful and kissed me because he believed it. How my lack of understanding and interest, at least that’s probably what it looked like to him, made him pull away. And my chance of ever kissing Joe again is out the window.

I threw my hands to my face and let out a loud frustrated sigh.

“What’s wrong Steph?”

I sighed again and shook my head, mentally yelling at myself for pulling away during our first kiss.

I didn’t care anymore if my heart got broken. I couldn’t pretend anymore that he didn’t make my heart feel like it was flying whenever he smiled at me and sent me tingles whenever he got near me.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

This whole day of trying to contain myself was killing me and I just couldn’t handle it.

“Steph, please tell me what’s wrong.” Joe’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Nothing.” I shot back at him and got up from the blanket. “Nothing’s wrong.”

I can’t believe I pulled away from him. I can’t believe I stopped what could’ve been a nice make out session with him under the stars on the beach. God I’m so stupid.

I hadn’t realized I started to pace until Joe got up from his seat and grabbed my arms to keep me immobile.

“There’s obviously something wrong. Talk to me.”

“I just…” I looked up at him and I could feel my eyes start to get teary. I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t pretend to not feel anything whenever he was around me.

It was just too hard.

“Steph, just tell me what’s wrong. Was it the kiss? I’m sorry I kissed you. It’ll never happen again ok?”

“No!” I shouted and pushed his hands off of me so I could start pacing again. “The kiss was fine, I just wasn’t able to process what was going on until afterwards and ugh this is so messed up.”

“What’s messed up?” Joe asked from the same spot he was standing in.

“Everything.” I shouted at him and then stood in front of him. I was letting it all out now. I couldn’t control it after this long.

“I can’t pretend anymore Joe. I can’t pretend that you’re little smirks and comments don’t get to me. I can’t pretend that your smile doesn’t make me go crazy and it feels like my heart is going to jump right out of my chest. I can’t pretend that I don’t love Joe. I can’t, it’s just too hard. I can’t pretend that I don’t want to kiss you and be with you-”

His lips cut my rant short.

“Then don’t.” was all he said before he gave me another kiss, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

I smiled against his lips, this words replaying in my head as I wound my hands in his hair and melted against him.