Let's Get Reckless.

“Jamie? When did you get here?” Denise asked, eyes wide with surprise as I walked into the kitchen the next morning.

I chuckle, my cheeks heating up. “Uh, sometime last night. I forgot my house key and I’d rather wake Joe than my mom so he let me in. I’m sorry I hadn’t—“

“Oh, it’s fine.” She smiled, hugging me. “Morning, Honey. Since you’re here, would you like some pancakes?”

“Of course.” I smiled, going to take a seat next to Nick, smacking him in the head lightly. He glared, flicking a Cheerio at me.

“I missed you, Butt head.” I teased.

“Missed you too, Ugly.” He teased back, making my mouth drop.

“Mom, Nick just called me ugly.” I told Denise.

“Nicholas, apologize.” She scolded, making his jaw drop in disbelief.

“What—She—are you serious?” He asked, I think, more to himself. I simply laughed to myself at the incident.

“Where’s Joe?” Paul asked me while he read the newspaper.

“Upstairs. He told me he’s not talking to me.”

“What? Yeah, right. It’s New Years Eve.” Denise laughed. “Joe won’t leave you alone by nightfall.”

“Haha. I told him that was okay because I was in his house being loved more than he is by the people in his family. That’s when he kicked me out of the room.”

We all laughed and, as if he knew he was being talked about, Joe came down the stairs. I saw him look at me, before he could avert his eyes. I giggled at his childish antics, wondering if he even had the will power to keep it up for more than an hour. He was serious about not forgiving me, or at least acting like it.

“Morning, Joe.” I waved at him which he purposely ignored. Everyone looked at us with smirks, amused at Joe’s stubbornness.

“Mom, can I have chocolate chips in my pancakes?” He asks, hugging her. He may have been mad at me, but I wasn’t mad at him. The scene before me was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve always admired the Jonas’ for their perfect family. I wasn’t bitter that I didn’t have one; I was happy I got to see something so sweet. Denise kissed her son’s cheek, telling him yes. He hugged her tighter, muttering an ‘I love you’.

“Isn’t that adorable?” I whispered to Nick.

“Precious.” He said absent mindedly. I rolled my eyes, looking back at Joe. He was looking in the fridge.

“Joe, I love you.” I said, clear as day. His shoulders visibly went still, but again he ignored me.

“Joseph, are you really going to act like that?” Denise chuckled.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” He muttered.

I sighed, hopping off of my stool and turning to Nick. “Can I borrow a tee shirt and some sweats, Sweet face?”

“Sure.” He agreed. “You know where to find them”

I nodded. “Thanks. Love you lots.”

I jogged up the steps, going into Nick’s room. It was cleaner than mine, but that was now usual. I went over to his drawers, knowing it was the third one down. Pulling out a white tee shirt and some light grey sweats, I left his room, going into Joe’s.

I slipped off both my tank top and my shorts. Throwing the tee shirt over my shoulder, I slipped on the sweats. My phone was ringing so I crossed the room to get it.

“Yeah?”

“Jamie?” I heard a male voice ask, making me frown.

“Yes. Who’s this?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of Joe’s bed.

“Hey. This is Taylor. Lautner. Your manager gave me your number at a premiere the other day.” He told me. Once he told me who he was, I recognized his voice.

“Oh, yeah, um. Hi. Sorry, I couldn’t tell your voice at first.”

“No problem,” He chuckled. “I was calling to invite you to go to the bowling alley tonight with me and a few other people. It’s sort of like a party.”

“A party?”

“Yeah, it’ll be a bunch of fun, I promise. I just wanted to extend an invite.”

“On New Years?”

“Well, I’d like to say I knew Jamie Madden before the knew year” He laughed, making me smile.

“It sounds great. Um, text me the information later. Is it cool if I bring a few people?” When I asked the question, the sound of the door opening made me turn to look. Joe was in the door was, obviously caught off guard. I suddenly remembered I had no shirt on, but a last thought stopped me. I simply glanced at him before turning back around, standing.

“Of course. So I’ll see you tonight?” He asked.

“ Course. Text me the info and I’ll make sure I’ll go.”

“Cool. See you, Jamie.”

“Yeah. Bye, Taylor.” I hung up, turning back to Joe who hadn’t moved, still staring at me.

“Sorry,” I smiled.

He swallowed, blinking hard. “W—who was that?”

“Taylor; not that you care” I muttered, plugging my charger into the wall. I plugged my phone in and stood back up.

I knew perfectly well that I still had not put on a shirt, and Joe probably knew this fact better than me. I wondered if he’d give up now or still play this game.

“Taylor who?” He asked, slowly walking my way. I simply turned to stare at him, questioningly.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me?” I retorted instead of answering.

“I’m not” He replied quickly, shaking his head.

“Oh and I suppose you’re not staring at me neither, right?” I asked sweetly.

“No,” He said, more like he was trying to convince himself.

Without a word, I bit my lip and walked over to him. He didn’t move but I could see him getting antsy. I took left hand in mine and removed his other from his forehead, placing my own on his cheek. I stared into his eyes, smirking. My fingers toyed with the front piece of his hair that almost touched his forward.

“Huh,” I breathed, smiling. My hands brought his to wrap around my waist. I could feel his heartbeat thundering and hear his breath growing short.

“And you’re still mad at me Joe? You don’t forgive me; even if I tell you I love you?” I asked quietly, eyes never leaving his.

“N—no.” He stuttered. I laughed, having it come out breathy.

“Joe baby, you’re a rotten liar.” I shook my head before pulling out of his arms, pulling on my shirt, and walking out of the door.

&&

“I’m sure we’ll be back by two at the latest.” I told Denise when she asked about our plans.

“If you want, you guys don’t have to come back here.” She told us. “Me, your father, and Frankie are going over a friends house for New Years. We’ll be back pretty late.”

“What do you say Nick? Wanna stay the night at my house” I asked him. He shrugged, nodding his head in agreement. “Well we’ll just bring Joseph back since he’s still mad at me”

Denise winked at me and I smiled. “Well bye you guys. Happy New Year.” She hugged all three of us.

“Joseph, you’re being silly.” She told him before joining Paul and Frankie by the door. “Love you.”

“Love you.” We chorused back.

Once they were gone I sighed. I had told Nick about the bowling alley, Joe in ear shot, and he agreed to go. Joe, of course, said he had to go with Nick for someone reason I can’t remember. A brother thing. I acted as if I didn’t care, but I’d be ignoring Joe like he’d been ignoring me for the whole night.

I made some last adjustments to my appearance before we headed out

&&

“Oh, you brought some Jonas.” Taylor smiled, seeing us walking over.

I laughed, accepting the hug he had his arms out for. He added a little pressure when his arms wrapped around, telling me he was as buff as he looked in the movies. He had a real pretty smile that he wore constantly as he exchanged hellos with the boys and guided us over to everyone else.

I saw people I’ve never seen before, along with people I see on T.V. a lot. We went around, saying hello and hugging and shaking hands. I sat down on the bench beside Taylor and transferred into my bowling shoes.

“You look pretty, Jamie. The leather jacket is awesome.” Taylor commented, his bright smile present.

I blushed; I don’t know why. I guess it was nice to hear things Joe would say if he weren’t acting like he was. I was looking forward to coming back home to spend New Years Eve with him; to kiss him at midnight. From the looks of it, getting that kiss was a fat chance.

“Thanks” I smiled back, looking down to fix my shoe laces. Someone by the name of Alex put Joe, Nick, and my own name into the computer as they started a new game.

“You ever bowl before” Taylor asked me, helping me pick out a ball.

“Actually no. Haven’t gotten a chance too. I’m a pretty good skater, though” I told him as we found a dark purple ball that was just right. I was up next so he walked me up to the aisle.

“Need any help?”

“We’ll see how bad I am first” I joked. Taking a deep breath, I mimicked the actions other people used to throw, landing my ball straight into the gutter. Everyone laughed, including myself so I wouldn’t feel so lame.

“Here,” Taylor came right up beside me. I sort of jumped when his arm went right beside mine, hoping he didn’t notice. He guided me through the motions, moving my hand up and down.

“Got it?” He asked, smiling.

“Sure.” I answered, turning back to the pins. Trying to use what he taught me, I did so and actually managed to hit a few pins.

“Hah, thanks” I told him. He just winked, pulling me in for an unexpected hug.