Promise Me Forever

Joe sat in the car that was parked in front ofKourtney’s Lucas’s house. It was only recently that the pair had decided to live together. He turned his neck and stared at the still road in front of him, as he quickly ran through Kim’s plan in his mind, as Kevin, Nick and Kim all carefully watched him.

Joe looked around at his family. “So you want me to-?”

“Yes, Joe,” Kim said, slightly frustrated, obviously already knowing what he was going to say. “We’ve been through this like a million times!”

“But I’m not sure.”

“Look, Joe,” Kim sighed. “It’s as simple as this. If you really wanted her back, you would do this. If you really wanted her to talk to you again, you would do this. If you really loved Kourtney, you would do this.”

Joe hesitated and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

Kim wasn’t convinced with his answer. She caught his hesitation before he spoke. “Just keep in mind that this may not work, okay?”

“So, I was thinking that we should put spill some poison into Lucas’ dinner then Kourtney would have no one-”

“No, Nick!” Kevin groaned. “We’re not going with your plan. We’re sticking with Kim’s.”

“Oh, but come on!” he urged. “It’s the perfect plan!”

“No, it’s not Nick,” he disagreed. “After we poison Lucas, Joe still has Lacey.” Kevin spoke as if his younger brother wasn’t there in the car with him.

“Then we can burry Lacey alive,” Nick answered. “That would be the perfect solution.”

“Sweetie, you’re such a sadist,” Kim laughed, patting him on the back.

“No, I just have a creative mind,” he defended.

“Alright, Joe so when you get in there, tell her everything and follow my plan,” Kim reminded. “I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”

“Hopefully,” Kevin added.

Kim glared at Kevin. “Not helping,” she gritted.

Joe nodded. It had sounded easy when Kim explained her plan to Joe, but really, when he thought about it, it was probably one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do.

He looked out the window and stared at the house in front of him. This shouldn’t be too hard right? He sighed to himself; not knowing what will come and gripped his hand around the car door, pushed it open and stepped out of the car. He pushed the door closed behind him and began walking.

He knocked twice before someone had answered the door.

“Ah, Joe!” Lucas smiled. “How are you?”

“Um, can I speak to Kourtney, please?” Joe asked, trying his best to not sound rude.

“Uh, yeah,” Lucas said. “Come in, I’ll go get her.”

Joe entered the house Kourtney had moved in, and sat down on one of their luxurious couches. He found it slightly ridiculous. The pair had only been dating for a month and a half the most, and now they were living together? They were rushing into things.

“Joe,” Kourtney’s voice came.

He looked up. “Kourtney,” he said. “How have you been?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” she smiled. “But how about you?”

Joe studied the girl in front of her. A smile was plastered across her beautiful face, her eyes were filled with happiness and her stance told him a story of falling in love. He hadn’t seen his best friend his happy since the sixth grade when she won the Science Fair. Joe sighed to himself, knowing that he had lost. Kourtney Karson was happy with Lucas Cooper.

“Hey, listen,” Joe said, finally acting upon Kim’s plan. “I want to talk to you about something.”

“Oh me too,” Kourtney smiled. “But you go first anyway.”

Joe nodded, and looked at Kourtney, gazing into her crystal blue eyes. “I know what I did at that dinner was unexplainable,” he apologized. “I’m not sure what got through me, but after we kissed I thought-”

“Everything would be alright?” she snapped.

Joe hesitated. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to see you unhappy so I-”

“So you kissed me and thought that I would be happy?” she said, as her eyes filled with fury.

“Kourtney, listen to me, alright?’ he said, taking a step closer to her. “From the day I met Lacey, you weren’t happy, and I saw that in you. I don’t know what became of me because I knew I pushed you away. I pushed the best part of me away from myself.”

Kourtney let out a small sigh, trying to forget Joe’s last sentence. He had called her the best part. Right there and then, Kourtney wanted to run into Joe’s arms and tell him that everything would be alright again, that he would be alright and everything would be perfect, but she didn't move.

“Joe,” she breathed. “Please-”

“I knew I could possibly have the chance to lose you forever, and I was so stupid enough to actually risk it. I didn’t want to ever lose you because you mean a lot in my life. You’ve been there for me-”

“Joe-”

“I admit now, I was thick headed, and I’m probably still one,” he sighed. “But here I am now, trying to tell you how much I-”

“I’m engaged.”

Joe took a step back, completely surprised with the bombshell that was just thrown to him. “What?” he asked, after finally recovering. “What did you say?”

“I’m engaged,” she repeated. “Lucas took me out last night to dinner and got me to dress nicely. Half way though dinner he gets down on one knee and asks for my hand in marriage. I said yes. I absolutely love him.” Kourtney closed her eyes and smiled, and let out a breath. “I’m finally glad that I got that out. I’ve been wanting to tell you that since you came.” She opened her eyes. “Now what were you saying before I had cut you off?”

“Oh, um,” he said, running his hand through his hair. He needed a quick idea. Kim’s plan had screwed up. He was meant to tell Kourtney how much he loved her, but how could he now? She was freakin’ engaged to Lucas, and there was absolutely no way he was going to make things harder for her.

“So what was it?” Kourtney urged.

“Uh, yeah,” he trailed off. “I’m engaged to Lacey too.”

“Congratulations then!”

“You too!” He needed to get out of here. Fast. “See you, bye,” he said, before running out of the door to the car.

“Did it work?” Nick asked, as his brother approached the car.

Joe opened the door and hopped in. “Nope.”

“That means we can poison Lucas and bury Lacey alive, right?” Nick asked hopefully.

“Shut up, Nick,” Kim said, before turning to Joe. “What happened?”

Joe sighed before plunging into his tale. “I didn’t screw up this time, thank god,” he explained. “We didn’t see this coming but last night Lucas took Kourtney out and he proposed to her. She’s engaged to Lucas. They’re going to get married.”

“Oh-my-god!” Kim squealed in excitement. “She’s getting married? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Oh my god, I’m going to have to call her!”

“So now we can’t use Kim’s plan to lure Kourtney to go out with Joe,” Nick sighed.

“C’mon, what else?” Kevin said, completely ignoring Kim and Nick, urging Joe to go on. “There has to be something else, Joe? What did you say to her when she told you that?”

Joe hesitated. “I told her I was engaged to Lacey.”

“But you’re not!” Kim said, slightly shocked at Joe’s actions. “You know what this means right?”

The three boys shook their heads in the silence and all looked at her.

“Joe,” she said, looking at him straight in the eye. “You’re going to have to marry Lacey.”