Never let go.

We were all sat down around the table. Jess, Nick and Reece hadn’t come back into the room. I was slightly worried about it. He seemed upset. “Iz.” Joe said, making me turn to look at him. He smiled at me and we both laughed. “What are thinking about?” He asked me. I shrugged my shoulders before turning to my mum and Alex.

“Are you two like a couple now?” My mum almost choked on her coffee she was drinking. I smiled at them both. “I mean, he obviously slept over last night.” I knew my mum wanted to hit be for being so forwards. “Cause if you are, that’s cool with me.” I held both hands up and laughed. Joe rolled his eyes at me, and Jess, Nick and Reece walked in. The three of them smiled at us and sat down at the table. I looked at Reece, who had red eyes. “You okay now bubba?” I asked sweetly. He nodded his head and walked over to my mum. She pulled him onto his lap and he cuddled up to her, obviously he missed her.

“Mummy.” Reece said, stopping all conversations around the table to see what Reece wanted to say. “Jess and Nick said I can be a ring bear.” We all laughed as Reece blushed.

“Babe, don’t you mean ring bearer?” My mum asked, laughing to herself. He nodded his head and hid his face. We all laughed before Jess turned to me.

“What time are you going out tonight?” She winked at me. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

“Around 5-ish.” I shrugged my shoulders casually. Joe nudged me in the ribs, making me gasp with pain. “Idiot.” I muttered, rubbing my sore rib. Joe pouted at me, before moving his chair backwards. He walked out of the room and went upstairs. You could hear the sound of his footsteps as he walked up them. They all looked at me and I rolled my eyes. “Why me?” I muttered, moving my chair backwards before looking at everyone.

“Cause you are the only one who can handle him.” Nick mumbled, making us all laugh. I moved my way around the table and walked upstairs. I walked towards his room and pushed open the door.

“Joe, you okay?” I asked him. He was sat at his desk with his feet on it. He was tapping a pen against the table annoyingly. I sat down on his bed and waited for an answer. He sighed heavily before answering.

“I know I hurt you, Iz. You don’t have to make it worse.” He muttered, before walking into the bathroom. I rolled my eyes before climbing off his bed.

“Let me know when you are off you period Joe.” I said, before slamming the door behind me. I sighed before walking downstairs. Everyone looked at me when I walked in. “He’s on his period.” I said, before sitting down with a thump.

NeverLetGo

We were all sat down on the couch, staring at the magical box we call TV. Joe was still upstairs, sulking, while the rest of us couldn’t be happier. “Isn’t there a game on?” Nick complained as we watched a re-run of Glee. Me and Jess shook our heads and laughed at him. He rolled his eyes and left me, Jess and Danielle in the lounge. We didn’t speak, our eyes fixated on the TV. Something bleeped, making us all look at the source of the noise. Joe’s iPhone sat on the table. I looked at the other two girls in the room, before grabbing it. Camilla Belle. My mouth dropped open. After everything that had happened, she was still attempting to get in contact with him. I looked over at Jess and Danielle, before walking out of the room. I held Joe’s phone tight in my left hand as I walked up the stairs. I knocked on Joe’s bedroom door before opening it.

“Joe.” I said. He had his back to me, guitar in hand. He looked at me over his shoulder, his face blank. “You got a text.” I muttered, handing it to him. He nodded his head and unlocked his phone. I stood against the door as he noticed who it was from. His head spun around as he noticed I was still there. “Doesn’t matter.” I muttered before walking out. I slammed his bedroom door shut after myself before letting out a aggravated sigh. What was wrong with him? He acted like it was all about him. That me getting with James will affect him the most. But it won’t, it will affect me. And how I grow up. It didn’t have anything to do with Joe. It was nothing to do with him. I ran my fingers through my hair, aggravated. I didn’t want Joe to get to me, not today. I pushed myself away from Joe’s door and made my way downstairs. I walked into the lounge and flopped into Jess’s lap.

“Get off me fatty.” She mumbled, pushing me off her lap. I laughed and stuck my tongue out at her. Everyone laughed as I got off the floor and sat next to her. “Who was that?” She asked me, obviously talking about who had text Joe.

“I’ll give you two guesses.” I said, smirking at her. She thought about it before talking.

“Garb?” I shook my head, which lead her to narrow her eyebrows. “Demi?” I shook my head once more. “Well, they are the only people in the whole world that text Joe. Who is it?” She asked. Kevin, Jess, Nick and Danielle stared at me until I spoke.

“Camilla.” I muttered. All four of their eyes almost popped out of their head. “My reaction as well.” I flicked my hair over my shoulder. Nick gave Kevin a dodgy look, before the both of them started to walk out of the room. “Where are you going?” I asked, paranoid. They shared another look, before turning back to me.

“I need to toilet.” Nick said, before walking out of the room. Kevin’s eyes searched the room before they settled on me.

“I have to--” He stopped before thinking about what he was going to say. “I got nothing. We are going to moan at Joe.” Kevin flashed his teeth at us before walking out. I rolled my eyes before looking at the clock. 12pm. I groaned and leant my head against the back of the couch. Jess and Danielle laughed. We heard a door slam from upstairs and we knew that they had gone into Joe’s room. I shared a look with both girls, before we made our way upstairs. We placed our ears on the door, listening to what they had to say. “Why on earth is she texting you?” Kevin said, sounding fed up.

“I don’t know, Kev!” Joe practically yelled. “She all of a sudden text me. Maybe she wants me back!”

“No way!” Nick yelled. “If you dare go crawling back to her Joseph, that’s it.”

“Oh come on Nick! You think I’m that stupid to go back to her? After everything that she put me and Iz through? I wouldn’t even want to see her again!” Joe yelled. A small smile fell onto my lips as I knew that Joe wasn’t doing anything stupid. And it was kind of like relief to know that Joe wasn’t going back to her. “Don’t be so stupid Nicholas.” Joe muttered, before we heard footsteps. We all jumped away from the door and dashed into Nick’s room that just happened to be opposite.

“Sometimes he can be such an arse.” Nick muttered as he walked in. He looked at us all before smiling. “Were you listening?” He asked, chuckling to himself as he joined Jess on his bed.

“Nope.” I popped my lips. Nick narrowed his eyebrows at me, which made me burst into laughter. “Of course we were listening!” I threw both hands up in the air, making everyone laugh. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and we all spun around to see who it was. Joe stood there, looking at all of us.

“Can I talk to you, Iz?” He asked me, rubbing the back of his neck. I nodded and walked out of the room. I walked into Joe’s room, I knew he was behind me. I sat down at his desk as he took a seat on his bed. “I’m bored of this.” He said, looking over at me.

“What Joe?” I asked, looking back at him. “Bored of us being friends?” His eyes shot over towards me and so did his body. He bent down and placed his hands on my knee.

“Seriously Iz? You think that little of me?” He asked. I narrowed my eyebrows at him. “I could never get tired of you, Izzie.” A smile appeared on my lips. “I mean, the whole fighting thing. Me and you are constantly fighting now. We have never had an argument before in our lives, and all of a sudden we have started. I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want this to go.” He waved his hands between us. I sighed.

“Joe, you are my best friend, but maybe this fighting is good for us.” I said, which lead him to stand straight up and walk away from me. I climbed off the chair and sat down next to him. “I mean, we rely too much on each other. Maybe some space will do us good.” Joe exhaled and turned to me.

“I cannot survive without you by my side.” He whispered. I turned to him and sighed. He grabbed me by my waist and pulled me into his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist and placed my hands against his chest. “I rely on you, because I knew that you’ll be there for me, no matter what.” His hands were placed on my back, stretched across my t-shirt. “And I’ll be there for you. As much as you push me away.” I placed my hands on the back of his head. I rested my forehead against his and played with the hair on the back of his neck.

“I am not trying to push you away, Joseph. Don’t be so stupid.” His eyes flashed towards mine. “You will always be my number one guy Joe, nothing is going to change that. But--”

“Isabelle.” Joe said, stopping my speech. I looked up at him and he let out a breath, which tickled my lips. “I’m not letting you go without a fight.” He said, his voice sounding very rough and rather sexy.

“You said you didn’t want a fight.” I muttered, placing my hand against his cheek. He sighed at my touch. “So I’m not going to let you fight.” A smile came across Joe’s face.

“Camilla, Izzie.” One word and everything just fell. “I didn’t even know what she wanted. She text me one of those texts when you have to pick certain numbers to tell what you want to do with her.” He screwed up his nose. “Some of them were pretty dodgy. But I promise you that I’ve never spoke to her after we spilt up. I don’t want to talk to her, Iz. She almost broke me, and if it wasn’t for you.” I could see that Joe was about to cry.

“Joe. You don’t have to talk about it.” I knew how hard it was for him to talk about his past relationships, especially the one with Camilla. He shook his head, refusing to stop talking about it.

“When I found out she was cheating on me, I couldn’t do anything. I’ve never been in a relationship like that. It had felt like someone had ripped my heart out and thrown it on the floor. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t breathe. Everyone was so worried. But I knew that I had a show to do, and I couldn’t let the fans down. So I got on that stage and sang my heart out. The best show I ever did. Until I saw your face in the audience. The way you looked at me, no one else gave me that look. They gave me that ‘I’m sorry’ but you, you gave me that ‘I told you so’ look. And automatically, I felt helpless. You came all this way, just to see if I was okay.”

“That’s what friends do.” I said, smiling. Joe shook his head.

“No, that’s what Izzie does. I broke down on that stage. I was so powerless. But I finished that show, like I’ve done many times. And there you were, waiting for me. You were the first person I wanted to see, the first person I saw. You took me back to the hotel and let me cry. I cried so much, I haven’t cried that much since Coco died. But every time I need you, you’re there.” I smiled at Joe.

“I’ll always be there.” I said to him. He nodded his head and placed a small kiss on the top of my nose. “No matter what. Wherever I am, whenever, you give me a ring, and I’ll be there.”

----NeverLetGo----

“Joe.” I announced after about 20 minutes of silence. We had sat alone in his room, in the position we had when we were talking. “We probably should get downstairs now. They are probably wondering what’s happened.” Joe nodded his head and I climbed off him. I held my hand out to him and we walked downstairs in silence. I didn’t expect Joe to say anything. After our little chat, I didn’t want him to say anything otherwise he’d be upset. We walked into the lounge and everyone was in there. They all looked at us before Joe sat down beside Kevin. He looked at me, and patted his lap. Obviously he was being clingy and insecure at this moment. I walked over and placed myself in his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head against my back.

“Is he okay?” Denise mouthed at me. I nodded my head with assurance and gave me a nice smile.

“Camilla. We spoke about it.” Her mouth dropped a little bit, before she nodded and accepted it. Everyone started to chat again, but Joe kept quiet for once. I listened as mum, Jess and Nick talked about getting married. Slowly, everyone went quiet to listen to them.

“So how do you want to plan this out then?” My mum asked, tangled us with arms from Alex and Reece. I winked at her, and she laughed.

“Well.” Nick looked at Jess, as if to confirm it. “We want you and mum to help with the plans, along with the wedding planner we plan on getting.” Smiles on mum and Denise’s face stretched across their faces. I burst into laughter, and Joe’s arms loosened off around my stomach. I gave his hand a pat before going back to listening to their conversation.

“We’d love to.” Denise said, looking at my mum. “So, do you have anything in mind?” Everyone looked at the couple.

“Well, we have the date, and how we want the suits and stuff already.” Jess said, smiling to herself.

“So much for not rushing into it.” Kevin muttered from the side of me. I burst into laughter and Nick shot a horrible look over at us. “Carry on.” He muttered, wrapping an arm around Danielle.

“That’s all we got really. We haven’t discussed much.” Nick shrugged his shoulders before smiling with a full smile.

“What time do you need us to help you get ready?” I looked over at Danielle, and then realized she was talking to me.

“Huh?” I asked, confused. Everyone laughed, even Joe which made me smile. “Are you talking to me?” I asked, pointing at myself.

“No.” Danielle said, rolling her eyes. “The baby in my belly. I want to get it ready when it comes out in 6 months. I want to be really prepared.” I rolled my eyes once more, before she spoke to me again. “Of course you! You can be so dumb sometimes, Isabelle. When do you want us--” She pointed to herself and Jess. “To help you get ready for tonight.” I narrowed my eyebrows.

“What time is it now?” I asked, before looking around at the clock. 12:33pm. I sighed heavily before resting my head against Joe’s shoulder. “It seems too long away. I think I might--” I stopped my sentence to yawn. “Go to sleep again.” They all laughed as I climbed off Joe’s lap. I smiled at them, before walking outside in Joe’s boxers. I unlocked my house and smiled when I didn’t hear any noise. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and took a running dive onto my bed. And almost straight away, I fell asleep.

----NeverLetGo----

“Isabelle!” Someone sang as they walked into my room. Whoever this evil person was pulled back my curtains, letting the sun shine in. I groaned and rolled over to see whoever this person was. Danielle and Jess both stood at the bottom of my bed, grinning like crazy. I looked at them, my eye narrowed.

“What do you want?” I practically hissed at them. They shared a look before walking over to me and pulling me out of my bed. I stood in front of them, wearing Joe’s boxers and t-shirt.

“You have 2 hours before James,” Jess said in a patronising voice. I rolled my eyes at her. “Comes and picks you up. Now, we need you looking amazing for tonight. So get in the shower, you half 30 minutes.” My little sister clapped her hands, and Danielle pushed me towards my bathroom. I smacked my hand against my forehead however jumped straight into the shower after stripping. Once I started to wash my hair, I realized how excited I was about going on this date with James. I hurried myself, and jumped out. I walked back into my room, with a towel wrapped around my body, and another around my hair.

“Flats or heels?” I heard Danielle ask Jess. I dried my hair with the towel and watched the two girls in my room. I stood in the doorway, watching them argue.

“Well, flats. We don’t know where he is taking her.” Jess replied to Danielle. Danielle sighed and sat down on my bed.

“However, the heels go with the dress better.” Danielle replied. I rolled my eyes and walked over to them.

“Don’t I get a choice?” I asked, announcing my presence. They both turned and looked at me.

“No.” They said at the same time. I narrowed my eyebrows, spooked out about the both of them. I walked over and sat next to Danielle. “Anyway, you should trust us.” Danielle flashed her teeth at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Here.” Jess said, shoving my dress at me. “Go get changed.” I saluted her before walking into my bathroom again. I quickly put on a strap-less bra and underwear before sliding my dress over my head. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was amazing! I skipped out of the bedroom where Jess and Danielle sat on my bed, talking. I walked over to them and spun around.

“You look hot!” Danielle cheered, making me laugh. I nodded my head and smiled at the both of them, before sitting down next to them.

“I’m not even half ready.” I muttered, lying back. They giggled, but lied down with me. “What time is it?” I asked, stretching outwards.

“Like 4pm.” Jess informed me. I nodded my head and let out a yawn. “You cannot be still tired. You were in bed for like 3 hours.”

“Well, if somebody wasn’t at it all night!” I emphasised on the ‘somebody’. “Then maybe I wouldn’t have to go downstairs to get away from it, and I wouldn’t have fallen asleep on the couch and it wouldn’t have been uncomfortable and Joe wouldn’t have been snoring!” Jess and Danielle were practically wetting themselves on my bed.

“Well sorry that I wanted to celebrate my engagement.” She held her ring in my face. I grabbed hold of her hand and watched it sparkle.

“It is beautiful.” I said, running my finger over it. “Doesn’t your fiancé have amazing taste?” Sarcasm hung from my word. Jess snatched her hand away and hit me in the head.

“Jewellery? Yes.” She said. I looked at her, eyebrows lifted. “Clothes? Occasionally.” I sat up and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Girls? Nope.” I joked. She pushed me so hard that I fell off the bed. I burst into a set of giggles, which set the other two girls off. I held onto my stomach as tears ran down my face.

“Okay. We need to calm down and get you ready.” Danielle stated, holding her hands out to help me up. She pulled me off the floor and then pushed me down against the stool. “Okay. Hair is going to be curly, because you look amazing in it.” I rolled my eyes, but let her do whatever she wanted. I sat still while she dried my hair and Jess picked out all my make-up. Once my hair was dry, Danielle pulled out the curlers. Jess turned to me, and smiled.

“So this James,” She said, lifting her eyebrows up at me. “do you like him?”

“Maybe.” I winked at her, which made them both laugh. “He is really nice. Sweet. And totally gorgeous.” I said, making them laugh harder. “Seriously, he is really sweet. I think I do like him.” Danielle and Jess squealed as I blushed. “Just keep it on the down low, please?” I almost begged them.

“And why is that, Miss Sage?” Danielle asked me, kinking an eyebrow at me. She sprayed hairspray in my hair as she did the first section of hair. “Is this because of Joseph?” My head shot around, almost burning my head with the curlers.

“What makes you think that?” I asked, kinking my eyebrows back at her. They both laughed in time.

“Because how you two are acting, you don’t want to hurt him anymore.” Jess said, looking at me. I shared a look with both of them then nodded my head.

“You should have seen him when he was talking about Camilla. He looked so broken. I mean, even before when they broke up, he wasn’t that broken. But when he was talking about it, he looked so broke. And I knew that I couldn’t do anything about him.” I said, looking at myself in the mirror as I spoke. Jess and Danielle both went quiet as I contemplated my best friend. I let out a sigh. “I do love him, but now I’m thinking maybe James could fill that hole.” I attempted not to blush.

“Just--” Danielle went to speak, then stopped herself. I looked at Jess, then we both looked at Danielle, who carried on with my hair.

“What, Danielle?” I asked her, paranoid. She sighed and shook her head. “What did you wanna say?” I asked again. She took a deep breath.

“Just don’t push Joe away anymore, Izzie.” She said, taking another piece of my hair and curling it. “Because he needs you. And even though you don’t believe it, he does like you.” We all were in silence as Danielle finished my hair. She sprayed a lot of hairspray on it before smiling to herself. “You look lovely.” She muttered, before walking into my bathroom. I looked at Jess, who gave me a half smile.

“Make-up.” Jess said. I nodded my head in reply and she grabbed a stool to sit opposite me. She pulled her make-up bag into her lap and pulled out her foundation. “Danielle’s right.” Jess muttered, as she covered my face. “Joe needs you. He has always needed you. From the day he fell out of that tree when he was 5, till the day Camilla cheated on him. Just don’t leave him, please?” I looked into Jess’s eyes and nodded my head.

“Okay.” I smiled as I felt Danielle’s hand on my shoulder. We all sat in silence as Jess done my make-up. Just as soon as she put the lip-gloss onto my lips she spoke.

“You look amazing.” She said, as I puckered up my lips. I pouted very over-dramatically and they both laughed. I cracked a smile before standing up. I hugged them both and smiled.

“I love you guys.” I said to them. They both grinned at me, before I let them both go. I slid my feet into a pair of flat silver shoes before pushing my hair up. “Thank you both.” I nodded my head at them before grabbing my silver clutch. I slid my phone into it, as well as my house keys. I also slipped a $20 bill into as well, just in case. “What time is it?” I asked them as we made our way downstairs.

“7pm.” Danielle squealed before we ran downstairs and into the lounge. Sitting in the lounge was practically the whole of my family, and the Jonas’s family, apart from Frankie and Reece, who I could hear from outside. My mum wolf-whistled, making me go bright red.

“You look amazing, Izzie.” Denise cooed, making me more embarrassed. I ran my fingers through my hair, earning a slap from Danielle. I stuck my tongue out from here before the doorbell went. An automatic smile appeared on my face as I dashed for the door. Stood there, in a pair of dress trousers and a shirt and tie, was James, with a bunch of roses in his hands. He smiled at me.

“These are for you.” He said, the first words of our date tonight. I smiled back at him and nodded.

“Thank you.” I said, taking them from his hands and onto the table beside me. “I would invite you in, but I’ve got the whole Brady Brunch in here.” I muttered. “Make sure these are in water.” I pointed at Jess, who appeared in the doorway. She nodded her head and blew me a kiss. I smiled, before taking James’s outstretched hand.

“Did I mention how pretty you look tonight?”