Look Me in the Eyes, and Promise Me Friendship

“Joe, your breakfast is getting cold,” Mrs. Jonas knocked on his door. He got up, and he tried to unlock the door as quietly as he could. He didn't want his mother to know that they were locked in there alone. Aubrey fixed her hair real quick and Joe opened up the door. “Aubrey! I didn't know you were here,” she said excited, and grabbed Aubrey for a hug. Frankie ran for her from the end of the hall.

“Bree Bree!” he jumped up into her arms. “I told you they would be back soon,” he hugged her with all of his might.

“Yes you did Frankie,” Aubrey smiled, and looked at Joe.

“Come eat breakfast with me!” Aubrey put him down. She looked at Mrs. Jonas.

“Your welcome to stay,” she notified Aubrey, and it was set. She was staying for Breakfast. Frankie grabbed Aubrey's hand and followed behind his mother down the stairs. Joe followed behind Aubrey, linking his forefinger with hers. He was trying to not have anything be too obvious. She was going to eat. Nothing was going to stop her. She let go of Joe, and walked into the kitchen. Mr. Jonas, Kevin and Nick were already sitting at the table. Nick's eyes lit up when he saw that Aubrey was still there. Kevin moved his eyebrows up and down a couple times at them, having an idea of what happened upstairs. Joe blushed.

“Aubrey! Thanks for joining us, its so nice to see you.” Mr. Jonas exclaimed from the table. “Have a seat!” She walked behind Nick, rubbing his back slightly, he extended his back not expecting it. She sat in between Frankie and Joe, her two favorite guys. They all extended their arms out, grabbing each others hands for a prayer. She joined them, and bowed her head. “Lord, thank you for being with us today. Thank you for allowing us to live another day of life, and thank you for blessing us with this food this morning. Please bless Nicholas back to health today, and allow him to keep going. Please bless the rest of the family, and bless Aubrey who was able to join us this good morning. Amen...” Thank you Mr. Jonas.

Breakfast was Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. Aubrey took a little bit of everything. She actually ate, and Joe watched as she did. He was glad. He leaned over, and whispered in her ear.

“I'm proud of you,” she nodded. She knew already.

“I know,” she whispered back. He smiled and then took a bite out of a piece of toast. He grabbed her hand from under the table. She felt butterflies. She couldn't think. He started to play with her fingers. Her thought's went wild. “Feeling any better kiddo?” she looked over at Nick.

“A little bit, thanks for asking,” he smiled weakly, and looked down at his plate of food. He had barely touched anything. “Not really hungry though,” that's understandable.

Breakfast was over, and Aubrey finished up her plate. She was so full, that she almost felt sick.

“I beat you,” Aubrey joked with Joe. He still had a slice of bacon on his plate, and a couple pieces of eggs. He looked at her with the 'shut up' face and smiled. Kevin offered to clean up as he removed some plates from the table. Mr. And Mrs. Jonas thanked him.

“Boys, we have some errands to run. Can you watch Frankie for a couple of hours?” Kevin replied with an 'Mmhmm' and then they walked out of the kitchen. I offered to help Kevin and began to clear the table. Joe helped too, which made everything go even faster.

“Be good you guys,” Mrs. Jonas yelled from the door, and Mr. and Mrs. Jonas walked out, closing the door behind them. Aubrey thought they wanted a little 'alone' time. She laughed silently. Frankie tugged on her pants.

“Come play Bree Bree!” Frankie grabbed her hand, and dragged her to the living room. He pulled out shoots and ladders, and scattered the pieces all over the coffee table. “Joe Joe! Come play ladders with us!”

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“Ree, have you ever played Monkeys in a barrel before?” little Joe asked mischievously. He always won.

“No,” she lied with a little grin upon her face. “How do you play?”

“Like this,” he demonstrated. “Aw man. Only 10. Your turn Ree Ree,” she laughed inside. She poured the monkeys onto the floor, and started to play. She picked up as many as she could. “12!?” he screeched. She laughed. “I thought you never played before?” he whined with those puppy dog eyes that he did so well.

“Ive never played Monkeys in a barrel before, but I have played Barrel of monkeys,” she joked, and he put his hands on his hips, mad.

“What about 'guess who'?”

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“Joey stop cheating!” Frankie yelled at Joe, and Aubrey laughed. He plopped down into Aubrey's lap and just cried. She looked at Joe, sad. “I don't want to play anymore,” Frankie mumbled. He ran upstairs and left Aubrey and Joe in the room alone.

“Mission accomplished,” he stated. “Score,” he pumped his fist in the air. He leaned towards Aubrey and gave her a quick peck on her lips. She then leaned back in for a soft longer one. She pulled away and smiled. “Let's go do something,” he added.

Aubrey thought of something. Adrianne, how could she forget. She held her head in her hands. She felt horrible. She called her right away. She could tell that she was still upset. Aubrey invited her over for later that day.

“I really have to talk to you Adri. Come over around, 7:30ish?” she knew Joe wanted to be alone with her that day, so she didn't want to invite her with them, and have her be the third wheel. Adrianne agreed mad, and then hung up. She looked at Joe, and he knew something was up. He just grabbed her and held onto her.

“Lets go?” Aubrey nodded and was pulled up by Joe's strong arms.

They never did discuss where they were going, but they ended up at Pirates Cove, a miniature golf course. Aubrey had never mini golfed before, but she kind of knew the concept.

“Here’s your putter,” Joe said and handed her a stick with a flat end on it.So it’s called a putter, she thought. What a weird word. She looked at it and looked back up at Joe with an undecided smile on her face.

They started, and they BOTH totally sucked at it. She couldn't keep her ball on the course, and she hit Joe more then she hit the ball. He tried to help her, but whenever he did, she just got worse. Some girls behind them had a great time watching her screw up and were cracking up. They thought it was all humorous. Well, actually, it was. Aubrey had to admit that it was hilarious. But she was humiliated too.

“I know I know. I'm such a screw up,” she plopped down onto a bench. Joe let the girls go ahead, and sat down to comfort his best friend. “Your not having any fun. I'm ruining everything,” she pouted.

“You, Aubrey Amery Adele, are making things 100 times better,” he spoke the truth. He took her face in his hands, and kissed her nose. He looked deeply into her eyes. “Aubrey, I lov...” flashes went off, and people went crazy. “Oh no,” he whispered. He firmly grabbed Aubrey's hand and he ran off with her. Paparazzi.

What a GREAT time to get interrupted, he thought. They were able to outrun the Paparazzi, and finally made it home okay.

Out of breath, they walked into Aubrey's room. Joe hadn't been in there in a long time. Things were still the same. “I am so glad that my dad isn't home. I can finally get my life back together,” she jumped onto her bed, crossing her legs.

“I have to leave again in a couple of days,” he didn't want to bring it up. “The tour is heating up, and we were able to take a couple of days off for Nicholas, but we have to go back. We cant let our fans down.”

Speaking of Nicholas.

“Why didn't you tell me about Nicky?” she asked concerned. “I came over to see you this morning, and Kevin told me that he was sick.”

“I didn't want you to worry,” he tried keeping talking to a minimum. He sat behind Aubrey and just rubbed her shoulders. He became closer, and kissed her neck from behind. It sent shivers down her spine. God, there were those butterflies again. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and squeezed a little bit. She grunted in pain. It was a little too hard. “...sorry,” he didn't mean to.

“What are you going to do about Raelynn?” she asked curious. Her and Joe were sort of together now, and she had wondered what was going to happen. His shoulder's dropped in agony. He hadn't really thought of it. He didn't answer. She pulled away from him, and sat against her wall. “... Joe?” she pleaded with her eyes. He knew how things should be, and thats exactly how he wanted it.

“We are through,” case closed.