Welcome to the Dark Carnival

When I opened my eyes, I saw Hannah curled up into my side in the car. Apparently we had fallen asleep on our way back from the show and no one wanted to wake us up. Looking at Hannah, I realized that she was still in her make up and outfit from yesterday. She looked beautiful with the clown makeup and her corset dress showed off her figure nicely. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a knocking on the window. "Yo J, come on it's time to get up" said Monoxide. Rolling my eyes, I opened the door and stepped out to stretch. "Afternoon man. You want me to carry her or are you going to?" he asked. "I'll do it" I said, before turning around and picking up Hannah. She groaned and stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up.

I grinned and we headed into the house, nodding in hello to the guys who were all sitting down. Heading to a couch, I placed Hannah down and grabbed a bottle of Faygo. "Sleep well?" Rob asked me. "Yeah, although my neck is pretty fucking stiff from leaning against the door all night" I said, taking a sip of the Faygo. "That's why you don't sleep in a car man" said Shaggy, grinning at me. "Shaggs, don't pick on J" said a very groggy Hannah. Everyone just chuckled and I saw Madrox ruffle her hair as she sat up. "Nice to know you are awake now" said Alex, grinning at her. "So you guys pick on the girl who's just waking up? That's not very nice" she said, rubbing her eye and giving us a pout. 'She looks adorable, pouting with her makeup on' I thought as I flashed her a warm smile. Hannah caught my gaze and smiled back at me.

"Hannah, you might want to go shower. You've been sleeping with your make up on" said Rob. She nodded and got up, heading to the shower. Hooch came over to me and I scratched the top of his head. He was a cute dog and it seemed that he made Hannah more at ease with the group. About an hour later, Hannah came back in wearing a tattered pair of jeans, a faded green army jacket, a black t-shirt under the jacket, and her tattered shoes. "Hey Hannah, once we make some more money, we'll take you shopping" said Shaggy. "No, no, you guys don't have to do that" she said. "Nah we don't HAVE to, but we want to" I said. She smiled and Rob handed her a paycheck. "You've been working really hard" said Rob. Her eyes glistened as she looked at the check. "Thank you" Hannah said, her voice soft. Madrox got up and ruffled her hair, causing her to chuckle. I tried to bite back a snarl when I saw him blatantly hitting on her. 'Why the hell am I getting so worked up? It's not like I like her or something' I thought.

An hour later, Rob, Monoxide, Shaggy, and Alex had left to go pick up some items, leaving me alone with Madrox and Hannah. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw Madrox pick up Hannah and put her on his lap. She giggled and poked his cheek. "Put me down you behemoth!" she said, smiling. I felt my hands ball up into fists and I glared at Madrox. "Nah, I think I like you right where you are" said Madrox as he smiled at her. My blood began to boil and I stood up abruptly, causing Madrox and Hannah to look at me confused. I ignored Hannah's concerned look and went outside, slamming the door shut and sitting on the steps. Moments later, Hannah came out and sat down beside me. "J, are you alright?" she asked. I ignored her and continued to try to calm myself down. "Seriously, J are you alright?" she asked once more. "why don't you just go back inside?" I said, not letting my anger seep into my voice.

"…Are you sure?" I heard her ask. Turning to her, I saw her eyes shining with her concern. I felt my anger subside for a moment and I gave her a soft smile. "Yeah, go inside. I'll be fine, I just want some alone time" I said. She smiled and gave me a hug before heading inside. Watching as she went inside, I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. The way things were going, it seemed like I was heading towards attack Madrox sometime in the near future. 'And for what? A girl? I shouldn't even be attached to her, she's just a co-worker…that's it!' I thought, trying to get the point into my head. When Rob, Shaggy, Monoxide, and Alex showed up, I hadn't moved from my spot on the steps. "Yo man, you ok?" asked Monoxide. I just nodded and sat there. Rob stayed behind as the others went inside.

"Something's bothering you. I should know, after all I'm your brother. So what's up?" asked Rob. I just gave him a look that told him ' I'd rather not talk about it so please kindly fuck off and leave me alone'. Rob rolled his eyes and went inside, but not before saying one last thing to me. "If it's about Hannah, you should get her out of your head. It's not good for co-workers to be dating each other" he said before heading inside. 'Oh fuck my life and my brother's fucking wisdom' I growled in my head. Just then, Madrox and Hannah came outside. 'It would be my luck for these two to come outside at the worst possible time' I thought. "We're going to McDonald's, you want something?" Hannah asked. Ignoring her, I heard her sigh before jumping on Madrox's back. "Let's go behemoth" she said, smiling at him. He grinned like a lunatic before running as fast as a fat kid could to the car. Once in the car, Hannah smiled at him and kissed his cheek, causing him to sit in shock before laughing. Yep, this just wasn't my day now was it? It seems it keeps getting better and better. I got up and went inside, trying to ignore the curious looks from the guys.

"So when are we going to work on the Ringmaster?" asked Shaggy. "We'll finish up the next three shows, then go back to the studio" I responded, sitting down with a bottle of Faygo. "You sure?" he asked. "Yeah, might as well" I said. "Yo J man, you ok? You seem rather down" said Monoxide. "He's right" said Alex. "I'm fine, so just fuck off ok?" I said, rather annoyed at them. Getting up, I walked out of the room and into the one I was staying in at Alex's house. Hours passed and then I heard Madrox and Hannah walk back in. "Where's J?" I heard her ask. "His room" said Rob. Her soft footsteps headed towards my door and I heard her open the door. "J?" she asked. "Yeah what?" I snapped. She walked in and sat down on my bed. "Something's up. I have a feeling it has to do with Madrox and I, but I can't tell if I'm right unless you tell me" she said.

I looked at her, her eyes sparkling for the first time since she worked here. "What gave you that idea?" I asked. "The fact that you glare at him like he's about to hurt me, and the fact that you get angry, no scratch that, furious that he's touching me, and I don't see why" she said. "I think of you like a sister to me. I'm just afraid he'll hurt you" I lied. Hannah softly smiled and kissed my cheek before getting up. "I'm a big girl Joe, don't worry so much about me" she said before leaving. 'How the hell did she know my name?' I thought. 'Rob must've told her' I concluded before falling asleep.