Two More Lonely People...

Joe’s P.O.V.

"Joe?"

I look up at the soft voice that breaks the silence of my dark room, my heavy curtains having been closed since the night before, "Hey."

She moves to sit next to me, stopping my hand from turning the ring, the lie, that's on my finger, "You're thinking about it again, huh?"

"I never seem to get a break from the guilt, Dora. It's been eating at me."

"How do you think I feel? I'm the one who's making you feel like this." She sighs, resting her head on my shoulder as I wrap an arm around her waist.

"I don't regret it anymore. I did, for the first week, then I realized that I had nothing to regret."

"And you didn't tell me then because? It might have saved some of this stress." She drags off.

"I was mad at myself for pushing you away. I just let you go that night." I rest my head against hers, "Where did you go?"

"I went to Nick's room. He let me take a shower, and then I just cried a lot." I flinch at the news that I caused her so much pain, being so selfish and wallowing in something I'd played some part in, "I just said we'd had an argument."

"He believed you?" I asked gobsmacked. Nick questions everything even when he was ill.

"I don't think he knew what to do at that point." She chuckles sourly, "I was pretty distraught. Nick doesn't deal with tears to well, does he?"

I laugh but with a shake of my head, "I hate remembering that night."


That single text, which illuminated the room, and pulled my attention from the beautiful creature asleep in my arms, to the glint of my ring that suddenly felt very heavy on my finger.

"Crap." I hiss, resting my forehead against my forearm.

"Joey?"

That low, tired murmur, just unsettled me even more, "Sorry."

"What for?" I let her shift in my arms, watching her slide on to her back, a confused look gracing her features.

"I need some time to think." I slide out from between the sheets, grabbing my boxers from the floor, pulling them back up my legs, and walking across to the window.

"About what?" She sits up, tugging the covers up to her shoulders.

"This!" I snap, "What we just did!"

She flinches, biting her lip, probably to stop it quivering, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well so am I." I spit.

I don't even turn around as I hear her shuffling to find clothes, and then her sigh as she slides her cell from the vanity next to where I'm stood, "I'm going for a walk, leave you alone think."

I once again don't pay attention to what she's doing, and only realize later on how much danger I could of put her in by letting her walk around at that time of night.

"You can't keep blaming yourself Joe." I hear her whisper as she probably notices my eyes refocus from their daydream.

"What else can I do? If I'd have restrained from being a stupid, selfish twit! I would have been there for you the past two years."

"I'm the one who ran away."

"I pushed you away!" I insist, "You would have told me if you knew I didn't regret it."

“I left three weeks after that happened, Joe. I could have attempted to talk to you about it, you know, sort things out a little.”

“And I should have made an effort to see how you were feeling! Then when you left, and I called your Mum and she said you were ‘going to college’, I thought you hated me.”

“I hated myself.” She looks so ashamed, “I sat for hours thinking about how I would tell you, and instead I bought myself a ticket straight back to Texas.”

“God, I’ve been such an idiot. I was madly in love with you, and I think I still am, yet I didn’t even guess that you’d have gone back to Texas. You always said you enjoyed visiting your Gran in Dallas.”

“Mom didn’t want anything to do with me, which is probably why she lied. She said I should have been more considerate to our families’ image and if that I was planning on bringing the baby up myself, than I could do it elsewhere.”

“I always knew you’re Mom was a horrible bi-.”

“Hey, Joe? You up here?”

Nick steps into the room, my phone in hand, interrupting the calm in the room “Hey, Nicky.” She smiles.

“Niamh!” He shouts, running over and practically strangling her as he hugs around her neck, "What are you doing here?"

“Shh.” I scold, hitting Nick over the head, "Sleeping child across the hall."

“Dad and Kevin took Frankie shopping, you idiot.” He turns back to Niamh with a huge grin on his face, which soon disappears.

“Nicholas, my dear brother, you are an uncle.”

“Huh?” His eyebrows cross, as he looks between us both, “You mean…”

“Come with me.” I practically squeak like a kid on Christmas, and Niamh shakes her head and follows after us, stepping to the opposite side of the room as I show Nick his nephew.

"I'm gonna go help your Mom." She whispers, "Just don't be too loud, he gets cranky when he wakes up during nap time."

"Nick, this is Nate." I grin, glancing back at to her quickly, trying to portray how proud I am, "My son."

She leaves at that moment, and I sigh, knowing sometime soon, Kevin and Frankie will arrive home, along with Dad, and we'll have to go over this all again, and it probably won’t go as smooth.