This Heart, It Beats, Beats for Only You

What’s up Makeascene fans? Looks like love is in the air. Queen C and our resident rock star have been inseparable for the past week. Wonder how long this venture will last. Little brother N seems to be spending more and more time with Z. And where in the hell is M these days? Could she be with the infamous S, trying to rebuild a lost friendship? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Until next time,
Xoxo Scene baby

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Joe had never been happier to get on their plane. The boys had just finished a show, so they were all still feeling the usual jubilant effects after it, but since they had to go school the next day, they had to go home tonight. Usually, this would have been a time when Nick or he pretended to be sick so they could stay a day longer, but not today, not these days. Joe could not wait to get home. Casey was picking him up from the airport.

“Dude we’ll be there soon enough,” Kevin chuckled at his anxiousness. “Just relax. You’ll see her soon enough.” He got up to go sit with Danielle in the front, leaving Nick and Joe alone.

“I got to say, I’m glad you finally saw reason and asked her out,” Nick said casually, buckling his seat belt. They were about to take off.

Joe laughed. “Actually, she kind of cornered me.”

“But it still happened and that’s what’s important,” Nick shrugged. He was quiet for a moment. “You have to tell her now.”

“Nick,” Joe closed his eyes. “Please don’t start. I’m in a really good mood and you’re going to kill my buzz.”

“Look all I’m saying Joe, is that she’s going to find out eventually somehow,” he put his hands up defensively. “I know she’d rather hear it from you than from some other source.”

“Can I tell you something?” he said quietly. Nick simply nodded, his expression fixed solely on his brother. Joe loved that about Nick. He always listened with all his attention. It was what made him so smart. He heard and understood everything always. “I’m scared.”

“She won’t turn away from you,” he responded, figuring why his brother was probably scared. “She can handle it”

This made Joe chuckle. “I know she can handle it. If even a few people can, Casey Cartwright is definitely one of them. But it’ll break her.”

“She may be stronger than you think.”

“She is strong, but it will still break her. I don’t need to be you to realize she doesn’t let people in easily. She doesn’t take betrayal lightly, and this will be a betrayal to her.”

“Or it will be the binding point,” Nick amended.

“I just – I can’t bring that kind of pain on her. I can’t be the one to cause that kind of heartache.” He closed his eyes, and pinched his forehead between his eyes. He was getting a migraine.

“Joe, she’s going to have to face it eventually. There’s a storm coming, and it’s coming fast. At least if you’re the one to tell her, you can ease her into it and help her deal with it when it finally hits.”

“First of all, a storm? That was beyond cliché. And secondly, how the hell are you always right? Could you please teach us lesser humans your divine ways?”

Nick smirked. “It’s the hair. It has to be as curly as mine.”

“Yes, well seeing as Kevin’s is exactly like yours and he’s never right, I don’t think that’s it.”

He just laughed and shrugged. “Just tell her.”

He sighed. “I will. I’ll have to – just not yet.”

He then leaned back and put his headphones into his ears, closing his eyes. They still had a few hours till they were home and he needed the sleep.

---

Casey could barely hide her excitement. She finally had a boyfriend, one that all her friends liked, one she didn’t have to break up with in three months, one that was above her status because he had his own, a better one, one acknowledged by the world. It wasn’t just that though, it was something different. Joe was different. He was different. He was the first person she had ever met that actually challenged her, actually made her think about how pathetic her life really was. He was all she needed.

She parked the car and grabbed her purse, walking into the airport. She felt like someone was watching her, which was weird here. She knew that people usually watched her when she went to the mall or anywhere near her house. But these were adults here. They didn’t read makeascene. The only adults who looked at her did so because of her looks, but this was different. Someone wasn’t looking at her, they were watching her. She hurried to the private gate Joe had instructed her to.

Her phone started ringing when she got there. Joe. “Hey, you land yet?”

“Hey babe, yeah sorry but I have some bad news,” he sighed. “We got delayed in Chicago.”

“But wasn’t it a direct flight?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

“Yeah we um we ran out of gas,” he said after a moment.

“You. Ran. Out. Of. Gas,” she repeated slowly.

“No I’m just messing with you, turn around,” he laughed.

She heard the laugh even off the phone and whirled around. Joe was standing 50 feet from her, his phone to his ear. She grinned and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. When she felt his own arms wrapping around her waist, she swore it was like a scene from those cheesy movies, but she didn’t care. He was back. He leaned back slightly to smile down at her. He gently pushed a strand of her hair out of her face, and caressed her cheek with his thumb before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers firmly. She smiled into the kiss as she molded her body to the shape of his, reaching up on her tiptoes since he was taller than her. She knew this was probably inappropriate here, but she didn’t care. It just felt so good to be in his arms.

He sighed and pulled back slightly, keeping his arms firmly around her waist as he grinned down at her. “So I take it you’re not back about the running out of gas story?” he smirked. “Either that or you really just missed me.”

She flushed slightly. “Psh what? Me? No! I mean come on, it was only one – psh. Why, did you miss me?”

“Psh what? Me? No! I mean come on, it was only one – psh. Yes,” he admitted.

She giggled. “I missed you too.” She looked around. “Where are Nick and Kevin?”

“Danielle had left her car here,” Joe said. “I think it was there way of giving us alone time.”

“I think we owe them then,” she grinned.

She pulled away, but he kept her hand in his. “Where’s your car?”

“This way,” she said, leading him towards the exit.

She just couldn’t stop the smile that was on her face. It was like it was plastered on her face. But someone then grabbed her other arm, pulling it roughly away from Joe. In his surprise, his grip fell. Neither had expected it. She looked to see the culprit and saw it was Alex. Casey glared. “Get the fuck off of me.”

He chuckled. She realized there was a menacing tone to it. “Oh now you want me to get off of you? That wasn’t what you were saying when we were fucking in your house.”

“First of all, it was barely a hook-up, and secondly, it was a plot to embarrass you,” she rolled her eyes.

“Did you not hear her, get off before I make you,” Joe glowered at Alex who was still clutched Casey’s arm.

“Joe,” she warned, looking around warily at the onlookers. He didn’t need this kind of publicity. She looked at Alex. “What the fuck do you even want?”

“I want my life back,” he seethed. “You took everything.”

“I took nothing. I had everything,” Casey rolled her eyes. “You tried to take it from me. Don’t forget that.”

“You turned everyone against me,” he gripped her tighter. It was starting to hurt now. She knew she’d have a bruise.

She winced in pain and Joe saw, which caused him to jump into action. He punched Alex in the face, knocking him backward. “Don’t ever fucking touch my girlfriend again.”

“Your girlfriend?” Alex laughed, clutching his jaw. “Was that before she was sticking her tongue down my throat?” Casey grimaced. She had not used tongue. But she knew not to say anything just yet. “I didn’t know you had a thing for hoes.”

That seemed to strike a nerve. Joe punched him again, this time, knocking him down on the ground. But this time he did not stop. He kept hitting him, over and over again in the face, harder and harder. Casey saw blood on Joe’s hand when he raised it to strike Alex again. She now had tears in her eyes as she grabbed his arm, pulling him off. “Joe, please stop! Please! Don’t!”

Joe glared at her for a moment before his gaze softened. He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the flashes around them. Alex was still on the ground, his face bloody. “Are you okay?” he asked against her hair.

She nodded, and buried her head into his chest. He held her tightly until his grip suddenly became painful. He pushed her away lightly, and clutched his chest. She gasped in horror. “Joe, what happened? Are you okay?”

“Call – Nick,” he gasped, falling to his knees.

Panicked, she whipped out her phone and quickly called Nick, told him to hurry back to the airport and then called 911. Joe was in pain right now, and she didn’t know what was wrong. She fell to her knees in front of his, her arms trying to steady him as he started to shake. It felt to Casey like her world had suddenly stopped.