Writing Our Names In The Sky

He had sat around for the most part of the day, thinking. Moping was a more accurate term.

An article had gotten out, broadcasting Joe’s not-so-grand meeting with Mackenzie Rose. According to the lie, Joe was ‘unhappy with Mackenzie’s rudeness’ and ‘thought she should better acknowledge he was Joe Jonas.’

It wasn’t like that; the description of the event made it seem as if Joe were some pompous asshole, better than everyone else. That wasn’t the case, Joe just want to be acknowledgedat all. Of course she knew who he was, but she acted as if it were everyday matters. It wasn’t insulting, it was hurtful.

The sinking feeling he was experiencing in his abdomen was giving him a sentiment of disappointment and emptiness.

He knew Mackenzie had heard about the disaster and he knew she had to be upset; upset with him.

The doorbell rang and he sighed, somewhat content that he knew it was Demi. When he swung open the door she gave a small shriek of happiness before hugging him tightly; just the comfort he needed, the comfort Demi never failed to bring with her.

Contrary to popular belief, Joseph and Demetria were best friends, not lovers. And Demi was the best best friend. As she held to him, he could sense the sinking feeling become lesser and lesser.

“Thanks for coming, Dem.” He kissed her forehead before they released and made their way to the backyard. Joe grabbed a blanket and splayed it over the grass. As they lay down, Joe felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him from the warm sun over his body.

“How ya’ feelin’, Browksie?” Demi patted his bicep as he lay beside her, hands supporting his head as he lay there.

“I’ll live,” He shrugs and then sighs. “I feel like shit, Dems; like I insulted her and need to apologize. And it’s draining me.”

“Then do it; set things straight.” She told him simply. “Hon, I can say I’ve never experienced what you’re going through, but I can see how it’s affecting you. You have to talk to her, Joe Bear.”

“ How?”

“Record companies dohave files on their artists. Numbers, birthdays, jobs, addresses. Only important people can get that though, Joe. Jonas.”

Joe’s face broke into a wide grin. He tackled the bright eyed girl into a hug.

“I love you, Girl.” He crooned.

&-&

As Joe drove through the dirt road, he began to think the cute brunette at the receptionist desk steered him wrong. Bordering the dirt pathways were deep fields of lush green grass that swayed with the slight breeze. Behind the fields in some distance were mountains. Houses were coming up about a hundred feet down. When he passed them he took the time to slow a bit and look.

One stories, some two, made from wood; not cement like modern housing. They all had different shades of paint, letting Joe know they were hand painted. By the looks of it, hand built by either elders or the families who now resided in them. Some roofs were wooden planks, some shingles, some tin.

He saw the women perched on their porches and some children on the porch steps. They all looked at his monsterous SUV as it jumbled down the unpaved road. He felt oddly out of place in a big fancy machine like his Mercedes. He took in the scene of men working in the fields they owned, tending to farm animals or stacking hay. The whole thing made him think of ‘Life On A Praire’. Did people still live so simply?

His GPS told him to make a turn at the next intersection he came to. He did so and drove down a half mile stretch. He could see the house he was approaching in the distance. The land which it obviously owned was massive.

A decent amount of land away stood a barn house. It’s doors were open and it looked just like a barn house would: faded red, white trim; wooden and old looking. Past both the house and the barn and over to the side were horses inside a fence. Two of them, one a beautiful nutmeg brown, the other a clean white. He admired them before he realized he was at the house. There was a Jeep Wrangler parked to the side where the path he was driving on turned into the area around the house. No cement, just dirt.

Turning off his car, he sighed. He was nervous, but this had to be done. Giving himself a small mental pep talk, he jumped out of his car.

Overhead Joe could hear birds as well as machines in the distance. He squinted in the sunlight, deciding against flipping on his shades; it would probably look to ‘Hollywood’ seeing as he was here to apologize.

He gazed up at the two story house before him. It was a clean white, looking freshly painted. It was just like farm houses he’d seen in movies. The porch spread from the front of the house around to the side. Four steps led to it from the ground which a rock border covered the area where the house stood above the dirt floor. The front door was opened to the mesh screen door instead of a metal one.

Cautiously, he took the four steps up to approach the door, noticing the way the wood creaked. His fingers raised to tap on the door sill a few times before calling a ‘Hello’ into the doorway.

He waited a few moments, seeing that if anyone had been in there, they weren’t coming. He sighed, looking at the old sandalwood rocking chair a meter away. He was about to leave when he heard singing and laughing. His footsteps paused and he stilled all movement.

The laughter sounded again and he realized it was coming from the back of the house. It took him a moment’s hesitation to decide about going around back. He did so, tapping his thigh; a nervous habit he’d developed.

He got around and paused. There, beside a neat little garden area near the house’s back, was Mackenzie. She had on a pair of old jeans and a light blue t-shirt. They both had splotches of dirt on them, Joe guessed from tending to her garden.

There was a puppy beside her, playing with her foot as she wiggled it for his enjoyment. She laughed every time he bit at it.

“Sometimes time doesn't heal ,No not at all. Just stands still, while we fall” She sang, dusting off her hands. “In or out of love again I doubt I'm gonna win you back. When you got eyes like that.” She had picke up the small puppy in her hands and sung to him. It was adorable.

He was enjoying the sight when she finally saw him. Her demeanor changed and he felt his stomach shift.

“How did you get here?”

“I—your label gave me your address.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked?” It came out as a question and he mentally chastised himself.

“Sorry,” She shook her head, apologizing. She set the little animal down and stepped a little closer to him so they were only a yard or so apart. Even from this distance, he could see splotches of Earth on her cheeks and even so thought it looked cute. Child like.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t see why you’d come here.” She explained, looking up at the bright cloudless sky.

“I—I came to apologize, Mackenzie. That article had me out all wrong.”

“So you weren’t upset that I didn’t fall over you?” She accused, and he felt like crap.

“No! I wasn’t. I was a little let down that you didn’t want to speak to me—”

“It wasn’t that.” She quickly said, not wanting him to think of her as uncaring.

“Well, I just wanted a conversation. I’d been looking forward to it and when it didn’t happen I was sort of disappointed.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” She said with her head looking towards the ground. He could see her slightly miffed expression and felt like this was only doing more damage.

It was quiet for a stretch as Joe thought about what to say to fix this rift he was steadily causing between them within a five minute period.

“Can I just—Is there something wrong with me?” He asked abruptly, looking at her directly. She snapped her head up, looking confused.

“I don’t know what to say. I mean I just wanted a chance to talk to you. I saw your concert and you were really great and I thought it would be really awesome to meet you. You seem so down to Earth and different from the people I see on a everyday basis and I don’t know; it struck me as sort of refreshing. And I guess it’s because I painted this picture of us hitting it off so great that I set myself up for disappointment. I’m sorry if I offended you but really I never would mean such a thing. I think your pretty and gifted and all I wanted was a chance to havea chance at time with you.”

The words poured out of Joseph’s mouth without censorship. He didn't realized the damage before it was far too late. Staring at the beautiful girl in front of him, he waited for her response, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

The silence was agony. Her pouty lips parted and closed with words she didn’t know how to say. Self-consciousness took over and Joe fidgeted.

“You know, this was probably stupid of me to come here. I’m sorry to bother—”

“Joe,” She said his name carefully, nodding her head with it. “Come inside; stay for lunch, would you?”