Hanging By a Moment

“Nick seriously, just take me home, this isn’t a good idea,” I argued, repeating the same line for what seemed like the millionth time. I leaned back, resting my head on the passenger seat of his car. He leaned into the door, his arm resting on top of the frame, and shook his head, “She doesn’t want to see me,”

“She’s just upset,” He argued, repeating the same line for what seemed like the millionth time also. He pressed a kiss to my lips, and my stomach fluttered; I felt myself becoming instantly happier again, but as soon as he pulled away I sunk back into my misery, “It wasn’t exactly the best way to find out, but she’s your friend and you know she wants you to be here tonight,”

I didn’t say anything, just continued to keep his gaze. I wanted to make things up with Julia, I really did; she hadn’t spoken to me or Joe since Nick’s birthday dinner, and she had locked him out of their joint room at the hotel. Instead of his parents having to pay for another room, my Mom had suggested he stay with us, and so he had been, but I’d never seen him so miserable. Every five minutes on the dot he would call her, and then spend the remaining next four minutes staring at his phone, until he tried again, but she refused to answer.

“I agree with you, babe,” Nick said, reading my thoughts, “It’s unfair and she’s overreacting, but I can also understand why she’s upset,” He continued, “It hurt like hell when I found out what was going on between you and Joe,”

I felt butterflies spring up in my stomach at his admission; so he had cared about our relationship, not just me ‘fucking Joe about’ as he’d put it. “But that’s different; Joe didn’t even know her when that was going on!” I sighed and he chuckled.

“Put yourself in her shoes, Em,” He suggested, “You’ve just found out that Julia and I were once an item, and neither of us bothered to tell you; how do you feel?” He asked. I remained quiet for a minute and then I punched him in the arm lightly.

“Bitch,” I muttered and he chuckled again.

He kissed my lips softly, “Exactly, you’d be pissed! So go in there, and beg her for forgiveness, okay?” I sighed and nodded, and then allowed him to take my hand and help me out of the car. I followed him into the bar after he flashed his pass to the bouncer so that we didn’t have to pay entry fee, and then he kissed me again, “Talk to her,” He urged, before heading off to the small stage area to begin sound check with the other guys.

“Nick!” I hissed before he got too far away. He turned around immediately and walked back, and then placed his hands on either side of my waist, “What if she kills me?” I asked, with all sincerity.

He rolled his eyes, “Then I’ll write you a song and play it at your funeral,” He smiled and kissed my forehead as I glared up at him, “What happened to the ‘I’m not scared of anything Emma’ I once knew?” He questioned, “Don’t tell me the harsh New York nights have stolen her away?” He joked and I shook my head.

“No, the look on Julia’s face has her quaking in her boots,” I said, nodding towards Julia who was sat on a stool by the bar, fixing Joe with a deathly glare that I could tell he had noticed but was trying his hardest to avoid.

Nick followed my gaze and then muttered, “I should start working on that song pretty soon,” I gasped and hit him, causing him to laugh, “Emma it will be fine, trust me, that anger is mainly aimed at Joe so it’s him I should be writing a song for!” He joked and I couldn’t help a smile, “But now I really got to go because the doors opening in ten minutes and we need to have sound checked before then,” I nodded, and then cleared my throat as he made to walk away. “What?” He asked, turning back. I raised my eyebrows and recognition spread over his features, “Ah, yes,” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips; not one of the quick ones I had been receiving all night, but it was long one, his hands on either side of my face as his lips moved against mine, “Please don’t die, I love you,” He said when he broke away.

I smiled, “I love you too,” and then I finally allowed him to walk away. I didn’t moved immediately, instead I watched him walk over to his drum kit and step behind it, mutter a few words to his brothers and then start beating out a rhythm. He was beautiful, and it was a wonder how I’d gone so long with him by my side, sleeping in my bed, laughing at my jokes, just generally being in my field of view without me pouncing on him.

But now I didn’t have to worry about that; he loved me. Nick loved me, he’d said so himself, and now he was all mine, not Poppy’s or anybody else’s. It was like the great Hermione, Ron and Lavender love triangle of Harry Potter had finally ended; Hermione had her man and didn’t have to spend time crying on staircases with Harry anymore. Everything was perfect.

‘At least for now,’ I thought, realisation hitting me like a brick to the head. Nick wasn’t here for good, and soon he and the rest of the Jonas’ would be going back to Texas. I’d lose them all, again. A tight knot formed in my stomach and I felt tears rise in my eyes but I pushed them back, willing myself not to get upset tonight, and not to ruin everyone’s night. With that thought in mind, I marched over to where Julia was seated.

“Hey!” I said, forcing some cheer into my voice. She didn’t respond, “Okay you can ignore me, but I’m going to sit here anyway. Partly because I don’t want to look like a loner with no friends,” I said, pausing to see if she was smiling. She wasn’t. I sighed and continued, “But mostly just because I want my friend back.” She still didn’t speak, “You can get up and leave, I’d totally understand, but then I’d just follow you so you may as well just stay here where you can watch Joe squirm under your glare but secretly hope that he would run over and sweep you up in a nice tongue battle,” I turned to look at her; she quickly diverted her gaze away from Joe and hardened her glare, and also clenched her teeth. I smirked, knowing I had hit the nail on the head, “Please talk to me? I’m begging you!” I made my voice raise an octave and then dropped to my knees on the floor in front of her, “Oh please, please Julia! I’ll get you a date with Beyonce!”

She finally smirked and then playfully kicked me, “Stop making me laugh when I’m mad at you!” She demanded. I giggled and stood up off of the floor, “I’m pissed Emma, so I’m not going to forgive you that easily,”

“I know you are,” I said, “And you have every right to-”

“Where you ever going to tell me about you and Joe?” She cut in. I blinked, not sure how to answer or what would be the correct answer – if I was to answer truthfully, what was the answer actually going to be? I sighed finally and shook my head, “Do you not think I deserve to know that?”

“We didn’t tell you because it wasn’t important! Joe and I were a quick fling, because I was lonely and upset about Nick and Poppy, and he was lonely because his brothers all had girlfriends and it just happened,” I explained, but her features didn’t soften into a more pleasant gaze, “It started before he met you, and he ended it as soon as you came into his life.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me? You’ve had plenty of opportunities!”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, honestly, I guess we both just forgot about it throughout all the shit that’s been going on,” She didn’t say anything and I sighed, playing with a beer mat that sat on the bar, “Look Julia, I agree we should have told you, but I know that Joe loves you to pieces, I’ve known him such a long time and I’ve never seen him as happy as he is when he’s with you. He glows when you’re around, and all I know is that since you stopped talking to him? His bulb has gone out; he mopes around the house, doesn’t make jokes, he doesn’t even sing anymore so I don’t know how he’s going to cope tonight, but he’s still doing this gig because he promised you he would, and he’d do anything for you; you’ve got to believe that.” I stopped to take a breather, and watched her gaze flit back to her boyfriend who was sat on top of the large amp on the stage area, looking as if his dog had just died.

I could see the pain in her eyes as she saw him looking so down, and she didn’t speak for a while. After a long moment, she turned to me and spoke again, “Who kissed who first?”

I blinked, taken aback by the question. I didn’t reply immediately, instead I continued to play with the beer mat as I thought over the memory. I distinctly remember being in the pool, and Nick having just drove off with Poppy, and then Joe and I bitching about it.

Joe shrugged, “You don’t need him though Em, because you’ve got me, and I’m way cooler than my little brother.” He nodded and folded his arms across his chest, causing me to giggle.

“I wish you still went to school, Joe.” I mused, “I miss you.”

“You still see me almost everyday,” He raised his eyebrows.

“Used to.” I corrected him, motioning towards the drive-way in which Nick had just left.

He didn’t reply for a moment, but then said, “Yeah, used to.” He pushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes and then smiled slightly, “That’s a shame.” And then his lips brushed lightly against mine.

I glanced at Julia, who was watching me with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes full of hope. And then his lips brushed lightly against mine. “I kissed him,” I replied, and her body relaxed, her arms falling to her sides and a small smile playing on the edge of her lips, “It was a spur of the moment thing, and I kissed him,” I said and then shrugged, “I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

“Oh,” She said simply, her gaze going back to Joe again.

I smiled, “Go make his day,” I said, and she jumped off of the bar stool; she quickly gave me a hug to prove that we were cool again, and then walked over to Joe and planted a kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, Joe’s eyes were wide with shock, but he only hesitated for a second before he grabbed her around the waist and then pulled her back in for a full out tongue battle. I laughed and shook my head before taking my drink and heading to the table where my Mother sat with Denise and Paul just as Julia's Dad finally opened the doors and allowed the crowd entry.

**

I smiled at my non-biological brothers as they began their last song; BB Good. It was a bit disappointing to watch them playing, knowing that I helped write that song, that that particular guitar solo used to be mine, and that if my Dad wasn’t such a jackass, I’d be up there playing with them; but I was still smiling because I was proud of them, and because the crowd in the bar loved them.

“They’re pretty good,” My grin widened as I heard the familiar voice. Toby stood behind me, with Tyler by his side, looking a little nervous. It was odd; Toby never got nervous.

“TOBY!” I shouted, jumping on him and wrapping him in a hug. He laughed and wrapped his arms back around me in response.

“I’m sorry I was such a jerk,” He said, “Nick’s a really good drummer and singer,”

“Apology accepted, you don’t have to compliment him to make me like you again,” I joked, taking a step away from him, “So we’re friends again?”

He nodded, “Indeed,” was his response, before he wandered over to the bar to get himself and Tyler a drink. I turned to Tyler and fixed him with a look. He tried to innocently ignore my gaze but then finally looked at me with his eyebrows raised in a ‘what’ sort of manner.

“Did you have anything to do with this?” I asked, smiling.

He gasped, “No! He did this all by himself,”

I shook my head, “You and I both no that Tyler would never have apologised to me of his own accord, he’s too proud for that,”

Tyler glared at me and I smirked, “Okay fine I might have said something to him, but I know he was missing talking to you everyday but he needed a shove in right direction,” As we was speaking I felt arms snake around my waist, and I sunk back into Nick’s body, enjoying the feel of him close to me, “Oh hey,” Tyler smiled, “You must be Nick,” He said, holding out his hand, which Nick shook.

“So which member of TNT are you?” Nick asked, managing to keep his face straight although I could see a twinkle of amusement in his eyes as I turned around to look at him.

“Toby named the band okay!” Tyler threw up his hands in a mock annoyance, and then turned to point at me, “And you were supposed to be renaming it for us!”

I giggled, “I’m working on it,” As Nick and Tyler began speaking, I slipped away and over to where Toby was stood at the bar. I picked up one of the drinks he’d just paid for a took a mouthful of one, to which he glared and shook his head, and then followed me back to where Nick and Tyler were stood, “Nick this is Toby; Toby this is Nick,” I introduced them and then allowed Nick to pick up the conversation. Toby wasn’t very talkative at first, just giving one word answers, but sometimes Nick can be very persistent, and before long they were talking as if they’d known each other forever.

For the remainder of the evening, Julia and Joe were glued together, obviously making up for lost time over the past two days. Nick spent a lot of time wandering and talking to people, but he still made time to sit with me. At one point, Toby nudged me and nodded towards the bar where Amber stood glaring over at us. She watched Toby for a while, obviously her crush was still strong, and then pretty much jumped on Nick as he walked past her. He talked to her for a little while, and then politely said good-bye and returned to our table and kissed me. I could feel Amber’s eyes burning into me, but I didn’t care, I was too happy.

“So, are you enjoying it up here?” Kevin asked, as he and Danielle joined our table; Nick had once again wandered off to promote the band to the many strangers in the bar.

“Yeah,” I replied, taking a sip of my drink, “It’s pretty cool, but I’m enjoying it a lot more now you’re all here!”

He shrugged, “Wouldn’t anyone?” He joked and I grinned, “Home isn’t the same without you,” He said and I smiled, “Mom and Dad originally said no to this little trip because it was too short notice, but Joe and Julia weren’t about to let their idea go to waste, so they kept on and on at them until they agreed,” He explained, “I’m glad they did! I think everyone needed the break-” He was cut off as Nick came running over and pulled me off my chair, into a hug. I gripped tightly onto him as my feet left the floor and he spun me round.

“Woah!” I giggled, “What’s up?”

“Did you see that guy that was stood by the stage during the entire performance?!” He demanded and I nodded, “He’s from a record company, and he wants to sign the Jonas Brothers!”

My eyes widened and I squealed, “Oh my god!” I gasped, “That’s amazing!”

“Yeah,” He couldn’t stop grinning, and it made my heart flutter. Kevin had now stood up and was celebrating with Danielle. Joe had heard me squeal and wandered over with Julia, and once Nick explained, he picked Julia up and spun her round in his excitement too. “We go into the studio pretty much as soon as we get home!”

Kevin broke away from Danielle to turn to his younger brother, “Do we have enough songs?”

“Of course you do,” Paul appeared behind his son and clamped a hand on his shoulder, “I’ve just been talking to him, and he’s going to book the studio time and get back to us, once it’s recorded it should be on the shelves within a month!” He explained and I grinned, high-fiving Toby and Tyler simultaneously as they appeared, looking slightly out of place, near us.

“And that’s not the best news!” Denise chirred in, wrapping an arm around Joe who was still attached to Julia. “Tell them Paul,” She instructed her husband.

He nodded, a grin stretching across his features, “He also said that with the album release, there is a very high possibility of a tour across America!”

The group we were in erupted into excited chatter, Nick mumbling about the songs, Kevin talking about changes to particular guitar solos, and Joe talking excitedly about all of the outfits he’d need. I couldn’t help but giggle at him.

Nick glanced at me a few minutes later, a look on his face that clearly said ‘are you okay?’ I nodded; I was jealous, of course I was, it was always my dream to have what they’re having right now, but I was still happy for them and proud of them. I pecked his lips softly and he smiled.

“Well done,” I grinned. This year was starting take a definite turn for the best.