Keep Me Young

“According to Jenna Sanders' rep, she ended things with Joe Jonas due to the relationship lacking communication. How can that be when both of them were always spotted together? Though, as we start to look in, Joe hasn't been so alone, he's been spotted with a brunette with short hair. Is she his rebound girl? We don't know, yet, but she's not so bad!” Joe turned off the television in his room and just sat on his bed going over what they had just said. Well, more like what Jenna said. Lack of communication? That was all her.

“It's no big deal Joe,” Nick tried to make sure that his older brother didn't feel bad about the whole situation.

“It's not that, it's just the fact that they are involving Annie in all of it.” Joe groaned as he rolled around in his full size bed. It wasn't the fact that Jenna had lied about the whole break up deal, but the part that they were involving his best friend in all of it.

“Dude, she'll understand, when hasn't she understood?” Nick questioned. If there was something he knew about Annie, is that she would always understand the Jonas boys in any given situation. She may be stubborn and have her moments, but it didn't stop her from understanding her favorite boys. “As a matter of fact, why don't you call and invite her to go shopping with you.”

“She's going to take it as a date, I mean come on, how obvious is that?”

“You two go shopping all the time,” Nick rolled his eyes at Joe and just walked over to chair that Joe had in his room. Joe stayed quiet as his brother had stated the obvious. Why was Joe getting this funny feeling in his stomach? What was causing it anyways. He never got nervous or queasy when he talked about his best friend. Of course they went shopping every time they could, and when they did he was cool about it, so...why isn't he now? “Joe...do you like her?”

Joe didn't say a word, he just stared blankly at the wall. His thoughts were somewhere else, but he didn't know where. “No Nick, I don't like her.” He lied. But Nick was too smart to fall for what his brother had just said. He was too sure that Joe was falling in love with his best friend. “To prove it, I'll call her and ask her if she wants to go shopping today.”

“Alright, whatever you say, bro,” Nick smiled shrugging his shoulders and just standing up from the chair he was sitting on and left the room. Leaving Joe alone to talk to on the phone with Annie. Joe watched his brother walk out the door, and then grabbed his phone. With the cell phone device in hand, he went to his contacts and found Annie's number quickly. He stared at her name and just thought for a while. He took a deep breath and pressed the green button on the touch screen phone.

He brought the phone up to his ear and let it ring, knowing that someone was going to pick up on the other end. With the phone only ringing four times, he heard someone say something from the other end. “Hello?” He stayed quiet as he heard his friends voice. “Joe? You there?”

“Sorry, I blanked out there,” he excused himself. “What are you up to?”

“Let's see, right now I'm stirring some cake batter, hm,” she paused as she tried hard not to drop her phone. “That's about it, why?”

“Oh, you're making a cake?” he questioned her. He could already imagine his best friend struggling to keep her phone from falling into the batter, like she's done many times before.

“Ha, yeah,” she laughed softly and inhaled deeply, “just thought it'd be fun since I had nothing to do. What about you?”

“Well, I'm up to nothing, just sitting here in my room like always, but now that you tell me that you're baking a cake, I'm coming over because I want some,” he smiled as he got up from where he was seated and headed for the door, turning off the lights on his way out.

“Are you going to help, or just make a bigger mess?” she quizzed. If there was something about Joe, he always made whatever small mess there was, into a bigger one. When he tried to clean it up, he would groan and complain that he was tired and what not. So Annie knew him very well.

“Both, it should be fun,” he laughed walking down the stairs and heading for the door.

“Why'd you want to know what I was up to anyways?”

“Oh, um, well I thought that maybe you weren't doing anything and that you were going to want to go shopping or something, that's why,” he sighed walking out the front door and closing it behind. He walked down the 3 steps and headed for the gate.

“Well that sounded like it would be fun,” she admitted. “Now that I come to think of it, I do need some new shirts.”

“Maybe if we finish the cake before four, we can still go to the mall and shop?” He suggested as he locked the gate behind him and made his way to the car. He turned on the engine and put his seat belt on.

“Sounds great,” she admitted.

“Well, I'll see you in a bit, I'm heading to your house,” with that said, she said okay and they both hung up the phone. Joe was excited to go over to his best friends house like he used to all the time before, but then again, he felt nervous about going, too. He wondered why he felt this way. He was sure that he didn't like her, only as a friend, that was it. But what about the conversation he had with his older brother the night before. Maybe he was right about it all? No, he can't be in love with his best friend, it'll ruin the perfect friendship they have.

As he pressed the brake to the car, his phone began to ring. He quickly reached for it and saw Nick's name on the caller ID. “Hello?” he said bringing the phone up to his ear.

“Dude, where are you?” Nick questioned with a worried tone of voice.

“I'm heading over to Annie's house, why?”

“Turn the radio to KISS FM and you'll see,” with all of that said, Nick hung up the phone and let Joe listen to the radio.

Just like you heard it Jonas fans! You thought your boys were so nice and sympathetic, mhm. No one believes their fake act they put on. Jenna, Joe's ex, just called in stating that Joe always had control of the relationship. He always told her what to do and wouldn't give her enough freedom. Is this true? Probably, since no Jonas boy or representative has cleared up this whole situation, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

With what Joe had just heard, he shook his head and smiled. He didn't feel like calling in or commenting about the things his ex girlfriend was beginning to say. He wasn't going to bother to do anything about it. That's when once again, his phone rang.

“Hello?” he spoke into the phone. He was surprised to hear the familiar voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hey Joe, how are you this fine morning?” her voice sounded from the end of the phone. “Or shall I say afternoon?”

“What do you want?” was all Joe responded. He could tell that all she wanted to to do was make him angry so that he would go off on her and she could start another juicy rumor that would make her reputation more popular. He had figured out all her little tricks.

“Oh nothing, just thought I'd call to see how you were doing,” she smiled knowing that she could say anything in order to just set him off, but it wasn't going to happen. “How are all your fans taking this whole scene about our break up? I mean, it's practically all over the media!”

“Jenna, I don't really care to what you have to say,” he simply stated, “you can say all you want, and I'm not going to do anything about it, because the people who really do love us, they know the truth and won't believe anything they are being told. Sooner or later we will come out with the whole truth, and every single lie you've told will come back and bite you back.”

“Oh please, don't come sounding like you don't care, because you know you do, especially if they start to talk about your new lover,” she laughed into the phone. Now it was setting Joe off. If there was something he definitely hated, it was someone talking or trashing his best friend. “You know you'll do anything in her defense.”

“Don't start, because I haven't done anything wrong to set you off,” he began. “Actually, Annie has nothing to do in any of this. This whole situation is between you and I, and it will stay like that. You're not the only one who can talk about the relationship that ended, I also have my own little pennies I can toss in at any given moment I want. So be careful, I'll just warn you.”

“Yeah right, right now I have all your loving fans feeling sorry for me and eating out of my hand, you think they are going to believe you after everything they've heard?”

“The true fans will stick, and the one's that aren't well, we'll just have to wait and see, don't you think?” he questioned her as he pulled into his best friends driveway and turned off the car. “I have to go, I have better things to do than to sit here in my car and argue with you.”

“Bye, have fun with all the bad media that's going to be heading your way!”

Joe shrugged his shoulders and hung up the phone and placed it in his back pocket. He was tired of all the drama his ex was causing, but he knew that it was only going to be for a while. It would all go away eventually. As he reached the front door, he rang the doorbell twice and waited for someone to open it.

“Hey Joe, come in,” Annie smiled as she opened the door with an apron on and spots of flour on her face.

“Struggling with the batter?” Joe questioned as he smiled softly and followed behind her as she led him into the kitchen. “Wow!” he exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen and saw flour on the floor.

“Not really, I'm just struggling on how to keep the batter in the container,” she smiled as she set down the blue plastic bowl and reached for the whisk she'd been using for a while now. “You came just at the right time, trust me.”

“I can tell, and Annie, I think the batter is fine, just pour it into the mold and pop it in the oven,” he instructed as he helped her pour the batter into the plate.

“Thanks, if your hadn't come right now, I probably would've given up and there wouldn't be any cake,” she joked as she spooned the last of the batter out of the plastic container. When she had it all in the mold, she set the plastic container down and placed the mold with the batter, inside the oven. “Whew! I'm exhausted.”

“It isn't that tiring to make a cake,” he laughed helping her put the dirty dishes in the sink.

“For some odd reason, I always make it tiring to bake a cake,” she smiled as she grabbed the mop and began mopping the flour off the floor.

“How did you get all the flour on your face and on the floor?” he questioned her. Even though he already had an idea of how it happened. Annie was always really clumsy and would drop the smallest things.

“See, that's the thing,” she blushed, “I have no idea how that happened. I mean, I know how I got the flour on my face, because every time my hair would get in my face I would move it to the side and well my hands were covered in flour, so you get the idea, right?”

“Yeah, ha-ha, but at least I got here in time before you made an even bigger mess,” Joe smiled washing the dishes he had placed in the sink.

“Joe, you don't have to do that, I'm the one that made the mess,” Annie interrupted as she tried to push Joe aside so that she could take care of the dishes.

“No, I want to help, come on,” he insisted pushing her to the side and continuing to wash the dishes.

“Fine, but next time I'm at your house, I'm not going to wash the dishes, just so you know,” she pointed out and continued to mop the flour covered floor.

“Who said I was going to make you wash the dishes? I always help you out with chores,” he smiled sweetly, which caused Annie to feel weak in the knees. Ever since Joe came back from tour, every time she saw him smile, it made her feel weak in the knees. It's as if he had some kind of super power for her to just faint with his smile. “Annie, you okay?” He laughed softly.

“Huh?” she questioned coming back to reality.

“I said, are you okay?” he smiled softly with a confused but worried look on his face.

“Oh, yeah, just fine,” she smiled and continued to mop the floor. “I just zoned out.”

“Ha-ha, like always,” he laughed as he put the dishes in the dishwasher. “So you think we'll be able to go to the mall and shop?”

“Yeah, the cake will be done in like half an hour or so,” she shrugged putting the mop away in the corner and reaching for the paper towels to clean the counter. As Joe was about to reply to her, his phone began to ring in his pocket.

“Annie, can you get that for me?” he asked her as his hands were too wet to grab his phone. “It's in the back left pocket.”

“Okay?” she looked at him curiously. She walked over to where he was standing and reached for his phone in his back left pocket. Once her hand was in his back pocket, she didn't want to take her hand out, she just wanted to leave it there.

“Hello?” she answered placing the phone to her ear.

“Who's this?” a feminine voice replied with curiosity. Annie looked over at Joe with a confused look and didn't answer. “Hello? Who is this?”

“It's Annie, Joe's friend,” she finally replied. “Who is this?”

“Oh, hello Annie, how are you sweetie?” the other person laughed hysterically. “It's me, Jenna. Don't you remember me?”

“Oh, it's you,” Annie rolled her eyes and breathed in deeply. “What do you want?”

“Nothing, just wanted to make your life and Joe's miserable,” she laughed. “I would only make Joe's life miserable, but you're one of the reasons he broke up with me.”

“Mhm, well I hope you have tons of fun trying, because I could really care less for anything you might say to the press,” Annie scoffed spinning on her heel and walking towards the living room. Joe was confused on who Annie was talking to, because apparently she never gave him a name. He dried his hands with a paper towel and walked close behind Annie.

“Annie, who is it?” Joe whispered now taking a seat on the couch as she did too. Annie looked over at Joe and mouthed the name, 'Jenna'. “Annie, hand me the phone.”

“Aw, look little Joseph want's to talk to me, I bet he still misses me,” she laughed into the phone trying to make Annie mad or upset, but she wasn't near that. Annie was too busy having fun listening to the stupid things that Jenna had to say.

“Sure,” she smiled still looking at Joe. “He only wants the phone so that he can hang up.”

“You're just saying that because you know I'm right.”

“Fine then, I'll let you talk to Joe so that you can just talk about whatever you need and you'll see for yourself that he doesn't want anything to do with you,” Annie sighed without importance and handed the phone back to Joe. “The witch wants you.”

“I'm no witch!” both Joe and Annie heard Jenna scream from the other end of the phone. They both couldn't help but laugh.

“Hello,” Joe tried to contain his laughter as he talked to his ex girlfriend. “Look, I can't talk right now, I'm really busy. Bye.” He smiled and pressed the end button shoving the phone into his back pocket. “See, I can do it on my own.”

“Yeah, whatever you say, Joe,” Annie laughed and went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Joe watched his friend walk to the kitchen, and tried to convince himself that he wasn't crushing on her. Though, the entire time he watched her walk to the kitchen, he had a smile formed onto his lips.

“Joe! What a surprise to see you around here,” Mrs. Cruces smiled widely as she came in through the door with grocery bags. “How have you been?”

“Hey Mrs. C, I've been good, just decided to drop by and help Annie out with the cake she's making,” Joe admitted snapping out of his thoughts and concentrating on the conversation he was having with Annie's mom.

“Well, I'm really glad you've come by,” she admitted. “I have to say that we've missed you around here. It's been too quiet the past weeks.”

“I know Mrs. C, I'm irresistible,” he joked causing Annie's mom to laugh. “I'm just kidding.”

“That was a good one,” she laughed taking the groceries out of the bags and placing them in their designated places.

“So how's Mr. C and James? Are they home?”

“Oh no, they go to the field to play soccer every day around this time,” she informed him. “It's become a daily thing. James is going through that sports phase, and I'm surprised that he's stuck to it.”

“That sounds great, I bet he's been getting really good at soccer,” Joe smiled now helping to put away the groceries. “I'll need to play against him one of these days. I owe him a game.”

“He'd be really happy to play with you, son,” Mrs. Cruces smiled as she placed all the plastic bags in one and put them in a cabinet to use them for other things. “Well, I'm leaving again, I have to go over to Annie's grandmas house to help her with some tamales they're making. I'll bring some so you can take home to your parents and brothers.”

“That would be great,” Joe smiled and just stood there in the kitchen along with Annie as Mrs. Cruces left the house once again, leaving both of them by themselves. “So what's next?”

“Wait for the cake to bake,” Annie smiled.

“Okay,” there was a moment of silence. Both of them just stood there across from each other and waited for one of them to begin a conversation. It had became awkward for both of them to speak to each other after they'd realized they had different feelings towards each other. “So, um, how have you been doing in the music stuff. Any new songs?”

Annie stayed quiet because she never expected him to ask her about her music, “Yeah, just some lyrics here and there, not done, but they're something.”

“Awesome, you think I could listen to some of them?” he questioned hoping to get a 'yes'.

“They're not finished, but when I do finish them, which will be soon, you'll be the first one to get a listen,” she smiled as the timer went off, indicating that the cake was already done. “Cake's done.”

Annie grabbed the oven mittens and opened the oven taking out the cake and setting it on the counter. She poked a toothpick in the middle of the cake and made sure it was cooked thoroughly.

“Are you going to decorate it?” Joe questioned curiously.

“Mm, I don't know yet, probably,” she answered setting the cake aside and taking off the mittens. “Why?”

“No, just asking,” he smiled and nodded his head.

“So how are you dealing with all this Jenna drama?” she asked Joe out of the blues. “I know that was really random, but you seem to be taking it very well.”

“It's okay,” he laughed softly. “The only reason why I'm dealing with it like this, is because I have a very good friend by my side.” He smiled at her and just looked her in the eyes. He'd tried his hardest to deny that he had fallen in love with his best friend, but now, there was no way he could ever deny it anymore.