Beginnings Aren't So Simple

Big Rob shook his head furiously at Joe's question, making the middle Jonas cringe.

"Absolutely not!" he bellowed.

Roxi felt Joe's hand tighten around hers and gave him a soft squeeze. Joe had just ask Big Rob if him and Roxi could go catch a movie before the show. Roxi knew Joe really wanted this to happen, he's been talking about it all morning. It was a quarter after four, three hours before the show, and the movie would be starting in thirty minutes.

"But --" Joe started, but Big Rob cut him off.

"No, no, no. Joseph Jonas, you are way too busy to be going on some kind of date with a girl -- no offense, Roxi, you are quite a lovely young woman -- you have to understand that rock stars like you can't just go out and watch a movie. People will mob you!"

Roxi cast her gaze downwards and focused on a lone pebble. The stadium the Jonas Brothers would be playing in tonight was outside, and the bus was parked behind the stadium, in a blocked off section of the parking lot. The blond traced her thoughts back to her Aunt's words and then shook her head. "Joe, let's just... go hang out inside the bus. We'll cook, or something."

"Cook?" Joe asked with an amused smile. "You're kidding me."

His girlfriend merely gave him a smile and without another word, she walked in the direction of the bus, leaving Joe behind. Joe rose an eyebrow at Big Rob, and then jogged off to catch up with his girlfriend. He sneaked an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him so that they were side by side. "What will we be cooking up, Chef Roxi?"

A smile played on Roxi's lips. "How's Fried PB&J sandwiches sound to you?"

Joe made a face as they entered the air conditioned bus. "You're kidding, right?"

"Hmm... maybe, maybe not," his girlfriend walked over to the kitchen and looked through the refrigerator. "I've never actually tried it before, but I guess I'm craving some right now."

Joe walked over to where she was and leaned against the kitchen counter. "How can you crave something you never had?"

Roxi shrugged and began to pull out some peanut butter and jelly before closing the fridge and crawling up onto the counter besides Joe to reach for the bread that was hidden in the cabinets above their heads. Before she could answer Joe's question, his ring tone cut her off. He reached into his pocket and took it out, putting the blackberry against his ear. "Hey... oh, please, Nick, I really need these couple of hours before the show... ugh, seriously? Whatever. Bye." he hung up and then gave me an apologetic look.

"What is it this time?" Roxi asked, throwing down the bread onto the coutner and climbing off of it. Her tone came off a little bit harsh, but hopefully Joe didn't notice.

He didn't. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. "Apparently a radio interview, and then an acoustic show somewhere," opening his eyes, he frowned. "I'm really sorry, Rox."

No worries, Joe. I'm already used to it by now. Roxi shook her head. "Don't worry about it." she looked down and began to take out two pieces of bread - not bothering to take out two more for Joe. She dabbed a butter knife into the jar of jelly and spread it on one of the bread. She didn't want to look at Joe, because her mind were still on her Aunt's worth.

Joe her hugged her from the behind and nuzzled her neck softly. "Really. I'm sorry..."

Roxi half-smiled and rested her head on his. "We'll do it next time." 'cause next times are the times we can spend quality time together.

Joe lifted his head, causing Roxi to do the same and kissed her softly on her temple. "I'll try to get back as fast as I can. Will you be going to the concert?"

Roxi realized she had a thick layer of jelly on her bread by now. Oh, well... she said to herself and started on the peanut butter. "Yeah, I will."

"Great! Bye, Rox!" he hugged her one last time before grabbing a Vitamin Water out of the fridge and speeding out of the bus. Roxi finished her sandwich and felt too lazy to take the time to fry it. She poured herself some apple juice and shuffled to her bunk. She plopped her food and drink on the ground for easy access and opened her laptop. She checked her MySpace, IMed Alexa, and soon finished her snack. The blond felt the need to stretch and quickly told her best friend that she'll talk to her later. Roxi grabbed the empty dish and cup and went back to the kitchen to clean it. In there, she found her Aunt texting frustratingly on her Blackberry.

Roxi quickly rinsed the dish and cup and toweled them off before putting them where they were. She grabbed a gray sweater and threw it over her light blue shirt and jogged out of the door before her Aunt could stop her and talk about absolute shit that she doesn't need right now.

The blond girl found herself wandering around the large and almost empty stadium. She sat all the way in the back in one of the plastic blue seats and watched the crew set up for the show. By almost two months, she had learned all of the names of the crew and a whole bunch of them. She'd miss The Best of Both Worlds tour when it ends in a few days. Though, she should be happy, right? Returning back to her home town, and getting the rest of the summer to herself... that's all she ever wanted, right? But when Joe and the boys go back to New Jersey, what's there to do?

A buzzing in her pocket alerted her. She took her phone out of her pocket to find a message from -- to her surprise -- Trace Cyrus.

You look nice today.

Creeper, much? Roxi laughed to herself and texted him back. You're freakin' me out, man.

Soz. Meet me at Miley's bus. We can go out 2 get ice cream?

Roxi bit her lip. She was sure most of her feelings for Trace were gone, but if she were to hang out with him again, they could come back. But there was so much time left before the concert, and it was awfully hot... k. see ya there.

Minutes later, she was in front of Miley Cyrus' large bus and leaned casually against the sleek vehicle. Soon, the familiar pierced, black haired boy shuffled up to her and gave her a quick, one-armed hug. She felt awkward being hug by another boy, since all the guys she hugged nowadays were Joe, Kevin, Nick, and Big Rob. Plus, she hasn't seen him in forever, even though they were always in the same place as one another.

"How are you doing?" he asked her, looking into her eyes and giving her an excited smile.

Roxi smiled back and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "Fine, thanks.You don't know how much I've been wanting ice cream. I would've ate some of the ice cream in the bus, but Big Rob might freak out."

Trace chuckled. "I love that guy -- how is he?"

They began to walk, and Roxi told him everything that happened in the last three weeks, skipping anything about Joe and her. When they reached a diner just around the corner, Roxi ordered a large strawberry ice cream with whip cream and hot fudge, and Trace ordered a large chocolate ice cream with whip cream and hot fudge. They both laughed as they sat down in a small red booth.

Roxi actually found her outing with Trace to be really fun. She noticed that she had more fun with him in the two hours than she ever had with Joe in the past three weeks. It saddened her to think that, but it was the unfortunate truth.

When they paid and left, Trace and her made a quick stop at a Toy Store. Roxi looked at their collection of cute stuffed animals, and Trace swore her eyes sparkled. When she wasn't looking, he snatched a purple koala bear and paid for it. When they were walking back to the venue, he presented it to her. "Ta daaa!"

Roxi giggled and took the purple koala from Trace's hands. "Oh my gosh, you didn't!"

"I did," Trace grinned. "And please tell me you like purple koalas, because if you don't, I'll go get -- I don't know -- a rainbow dolphin."

The blond girl rolled her eyes at her friend. "It's fine, Trace. Thank you."

Trace mearly shrugged. "Just a 'Thank you for being my friend!' gift. Don't worry about it."

Roxi laughed and nudged him playfully in the shoulder. "That's so fourth grade."

"Whateva', Rox. Don't hate, appreciate!"

Trace walked her back to the Jonas bus and gave her another awkward one-armed hug before running back to Miley's bus. She walked over to her bunk, put the stuffed animal next to her pillow, and went to take a quick shower. She switched into a black shirt with BIG ROB'S #1 FAN stenciled on it in big gold letters (Kevin and her made it one night while Nick, Joe, and Big Rob had a karate thing going on in the parking lot), put on the gray sweater from earlier, and a plain pair of blue jeans. She fixed her hair, and was soon making her way to the stadium.

When she entered from the back she winced at the harsh sounds of the crew chattering and the fans screaming. Roxi stood on her toes to see where her boyfriend was and when she could make out his long arms waving in the air, she smiled and rushed over to him. Joe caught her by the waist and swung her around before hugging her tightly and nuzzling into her neck (she loved that). He lifted his head up and pressed his forehead against hers. Staring into her eyes, he said: "You're going to love this concert. Thanks for coming out tonight."

Roxi shrugged uneasily. "I feel bad for not coming out and supporting my boys. It's just --"

"The screaming girls? 'Cause we know exactly how you feel." huffed Kevin from a few feet away from them.

Roxi laughed softly. "Yeah, what Kevin said."

Joe took his hand and stroked her hair softly before leaning in and kissing her. Roxi felt her ears burn and kissed back, knowing that he only kissed on the lips on special occasions. They kissed a few more times, and then parted.

"Ew, I'm going to puke," Nick fake gagged, but grinned playfully at Roxi.

Big Rob came over to the group and clapped his hands loudly. "Come on guys, places, places! Roxi, you stayin' for the concert?"

Roxi nodded in response and gave each of the Jonases a long hug. "Good luck!"

"Thanks, Rox," Kevin and Nick said. Joe smiled softly.

When they left to go take their places, Big Rob guided her to the V.I.P. section, which happened to be right next to the stage, in a technical area/ditch thing. Again. Not being surprised, she leaned against the barricade and waited for the show to began. She felt like burning her ears already.

When the Jonas Brothers came on stage, the screaming got louder. She winced and started to regret the fact that she didn't bring her earplugs.

The boys started with Burnin' Up, then Hold On, Mandy, Games, Kids of the Future, and while getting ready for the next song, Joe walked towards the crowd. "You guys are an amazing crowd! I'm going to miss ya', Salem!" the crowd roared. When they calmed, Joe was walking back to his brothers and put his arms around their necks. "This is going to be our last song, and we've decided to dedicate to a girl who's special to our hearts," her boyfriend gave her a small glance and a half-smile before looking back at the crowd. "Roxi, this one's for you. We love ya'."

After the crowd settled, the boys busted into Inseperable, Roxi's favorite song. Her heart melted, and her eyes got glassy. Big Rob gave her a small squeeze on the shoulder as they watched the boys preform their very best. At any moment, Roxi would burst into tears. But not in front of Big Rob, she swore to herself. He'd rush her out of there and would demand 911 to come, so she remained silent until the last word, the last strum of the guitar, the last pluck of the bass, and the last bang of the drums. When the boys thanked the crowd and went backstage, she rushed to Joe and threw her arms around him, crying hard into his shoulder.

Roxi knew this wouldn't last.