Beautiful Mistake

"Oh my God! Joe!" I heard a girl shriek. I chuckled and hung back waiting for the mob to disperse.

"Kevin! Marry me!" I heard another girl yell.

"Wow." I mouthed. These boys are really popular. I chuckled.

"Don't you see the Jonas Brothers over there?" A girl shrieked, pulling me over to my table and pushed her way to the front, taking me with her. I was becoming very claustrophobic and I could see the bemused expression on Willy Wonka's face. The girl spun me around and I came face to face with Joe. He grinned.

"Hi." He said, still grinning. I smiled sarcastically. I just wanted to sit down and he was in front of my chair. "So you're suddenly a fan now?" I didn't answer, I just continued to smirk. He pouted a little before I felt nails attach themselves painfully to my arm and yank me backwards. He had a bemused smile as he watched me move farther back into the mob. Our waitress made her way over next to me, carrying our food.

"That's your table, right, sweetie?" She asked me. I nodded, sighing. "I have another table to take care of-can I trust you with the food?" She asked, smiling at me.

"Sure." She handed me the tray and I caught Willy Wonka's eye. He saw I had the food and made the girls disperse. I smiled and headed over, giving everyone their plates. I went to give Joe's his, but hesitated.

"What?" He asked, trying not to smile.

"Yours is extra." I smirked before handing him his plate and sitting down. The waitress came back.

"Thanks, doll." She said, taking the tray.

"Sure thing." I smiled. Joe gave me a look.

"You've got some brown on your nose, right there." He whispered, pointing to his own nose. I stared at him for a second. I had BBQ sauce on my plate and I smirked. I tapped the top of the dish with my finger lightly and I quickly put it on his nose.

"There, now we match." I said pleasantly. The other three cracked up. Joe stuck his tongue out at me and wiping it off his nose, sulking. I chuckled and we finished eating.

The waitress came back, took our plates and I saw her subtly drop something into my uncle's lap. I sighed quietly and Kevin looked at me. I shook my head. I had hoping that my dad comment had scared her off, but apparently not. Willy Wonka paid and we headed back to the car. The boys were talking about Uncle Charlie was looking at the piece of paper. We climbed into the car, Joe not bothering to open any doors for me-not that I expected it. Uncle Charlie put the piece of paper in the cup holder, slightly unfolded. I glanced quickly and saw Carli- and then a few numbers. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, putting on my seatbelt. I absent mindedly tucked my knees up to my chest and began to play with my ear-a habit I have when I'm upset. I stared out the window just watching the modern scenery fly by.

It wasn't until I felt a sharp kick on the back of my seat that I realized I was being spoken to. I immediately put my hand and feet down, looking over and my uncle who had been trying to get my attention. Joe had been the one to kick me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, like he had been asking for a while and was sick of it.

"Nothing." I muttered, turning back to the window. I didn't want to get into it in front of other people, it was private. He sighed loudly and I turned up the music. "Is this you guys?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at them.

"Yup. This one is called Mandy." Kevin said. I listened to the chorus and smiled.

"Mandy is our best friend." Nick added.

"Aw-and you guys wrote a song about her?" I asked and Kevin and Nick chuckled.

"Yeah."

"That's so sweet." I said and Joe scoffed. I bit my lip-wanting to say something back, but I didn't. I turned back around, the phone number taunting me. Another song came one. "Is this you guys, too?" I asked.

"Yeah-this is S.O.S." Nick answered. 'I need an S.O.S.' I thought. We pulled into a driveway and I looked around.

"I have to go in to talk to their parents-you're welcome to come if you want." Uncle Charlie said, with very little emotion in his voice. He was pissed at me.

"No, I think I'll-"

"Aw, come on, please?" Kevin said. One of the doors opened and shut and I watched as Joe had marched into his house. I sighed. My uncle shut off the car and followed Joe. I groaned.

"Come on." Nick said, getting out and coming to open my door for me. I hesitated before stepping out of the car and silently following them inside a nice looking house.

"Hi, boys. Did you have fun?" A pretty woman asked, hugging Kevin and Nick. Joe was nowhere in sight.

"Yeah, Mom-this is Chrissie." Kevin introduced.

"Oh, why, hello." She said, pulling me in for a hug. Awkward.

"High yah!" I heard a little boy yell and I saw Kevin fake grab his stomach. The little boy giggled. "I win!!" He shouted.

"Frank, this is Chrissie-say hello." Their mom said.

"Hi. You're pretty." He said before taking off. Kevin and Nick had embarrassed looks on their faces. I chuckled.

"I'm Denise and this is my husband, Paul." She said, pulling a man back from going up the stairs. "Paul, this is Christina, Charlie's niece." She introduced.

"Quite the pleasure to meet you." He said, taking my hand and kissing it. I smiled.

"Joe's upstairs, boys." She said to Kevin and Nick. She walked back into the kitchen.

"I think I made him mad." I said quietly, staring at the floor. "Along with Willy Wonka."

"He's just worried about you, and Joe's just upset because someone finally upped him at his own smart alec mouth game." Kevin said. "Ignore Joe. But your uncle's worried."

"Let's go on the back deck." Nick suggested. They led me through the house and onto the back deck. They sat down in the patio chairs and I followed suit.

"What was going on at Applebee's?" Kevin asked.

"That waitress was practically throwing herself at my uncle." I muttered, feeling stupid already.

"Yeah-we noticed that." Nick said. "But there's something more, isn't there?"

"Yeah. The last time he got involved-she ended up……it just didn't end well for Willy Wonka. I don't want to see him go through that again." I mumbled.

"But not every girl is like that." Kevin said.

"I know, and it's really none of my business, but-he's my best friend. And before you say it-I know it's sad. But he's always been there for me and I'm just really protective of him." I said.

"And that's understandable." Nick agreed. "But he's old now-he can make his own decisions." He said gently, not trying to be pushy. I chuckled.

"I know-it's just hard." I sighed. "But it's none of my business what he does." I said. They looked at each other guiltily, but I ignored it. "I think I'm gonna go sit in the car until he's ready to go. Tell Joe I'm sorry for…whatever I did." I said, standing up. We walked back into the house. I saw Joe sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "It was really nice meeting you." I said to their parents.

"Are you leaving?" Their mom asked, surprised.

"I have to make a phone call." I lied.

"Oh, alright." She came over and hugged me tightly. "Come over anytime." She said and I smiled.

"Thank you." I saw Joe roll his eyes.

"Kevin!" Frank whined, walking into the kitchen holding a guitar hero controller. I bit my lip to keep from yelping.

"Yeah?" He said, turning around.

"Fix it." He said, and his mother cleared her throat pointedly. "Please." He added. I chuckled. He was adorable. Kevin adjusted the strap and sent Frank back. He bolted back into the kitchen and grabbed my hand.

"Frankie-" Kevin started.

"Please come play guitar hero?" Frankie asked sweetly and the three brothers looked shocked and his mom looked ready to pass out. Their dad and my uncle clapped and I looked around, confused.

"That's the first time he's ever formed a sentence, let alone a polite one." Nick said. I smiled.

"Please?" Frankie begged, ignoring everyone else. I shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" He led me into the living room and handed me the second guitar. Kevin, Nick and Joe walked in and sat down to watch. Frankie picked the song and put it on easy. We picked out characters and I picked the black flying V Gibson Le Paul guitar, my favorite.

"Nice choice." Kevin said to me and I smiled.

"I play winner." Nick called. We started playing Smoke on the Water on Guitar Hero 1. I smiled. This was pie. Frankie kept missing notes, so right from the beginning I missed notes to make him feel better because he was starting to look upset. Pretty soon the song ended and I had won by fifteen percent. Frankie sighed and handed the controller to Nick who sat next to me.

"That was sweet." He whispered as we picked our settings. I shrugged. "Mind if we step it up a bit?" He asked louder. I bit my lip giving off the impression that I was nervous.

"Alright." I said.

"Just on medium." He assured. I nodded, still trying not to smile. "Ya know what? I wanna play Guitar Hero II." He said and Kevin switched games for him. "Thanks, bro." We picked out our settings and he picked Woman by Wolfmother on medium. He smirked at me. The song began and I didn't miss a note while Nick missed one every once in a while. The song ended and Nick had ninety five percent and I had one hundred percent. They stared at me.

"What?" I asked casually.

"I'm next. That one was easy." Kevin said, taking the controller. He kept it on medium and picked Black Sabbath, smirking at me. I couldn't help but grin. "Uh-oh."

"Just for your FYI-I love this song." I said.

"Crap." Kevin joked. I smiled. "So this is probably your best song, huh?"

"No." I said mysteriously.

"What about your phone call?" Joe asked as the song started.

"I was only going to call my house, no big deal." I said, shrugging. Kevin bumped my arm on purpose, trying to make me mess up.

"Cheater." I laughed, nudging his arm back. He missed a few notes and Nick laughed.

"Shut up, Nick." He said jokingly.

"Excuse me?" Their mom said from the doorway.

"I love you, Nick." He said and Joe laughed.

"Can I play next?" Willy Wonka asked. I looked up at him and nodded. He winked at me. We finished playing and Kevin handed off the controller. Uncle Charlie sat next to me.

"We're still going to talk later." He whispered and I nodded. He stayed on medium and Joe sighed loudly.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"Can't you guys go any higher than medium?" I bit my lip, dying to say yes.

"Well, are you going to play?" I asked and he nodded as Willy Wonka picked Freebird. "Then you can pick what ever level you want." I said. He chuckled.

"Fair enough." I won and Uncle Charlie handed Joe the controller. He sat next to me and I looked at him.

"I'm sorry if I made you mad." I whispered. He smiled at me and I felt the beginnings of butterflies in my stomach.

"It's fine. It was a stupid thing to get upset over anyways." He said, flipping through the songs.

"So we're good?" I asked and he nodded.

"We're good." He picked the song- Beast and the Harlot. I smirked-this was my best song. "What's that smile for?" He asked, nudging my arm.

"You'll see."

"Oh-" He chuckled. "Getting cocky, are we?"

"Just shut up and play." The song started and he pushed my arm. I gasped and pushed him back. He jumped up and started to rock out.

"What, scared?" He laughed. I scoffed and jumped up after him. The song ended and we were tied.

"Whoa." Kevin said and Nick's mouth was hanging open. Joe looked at me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"No one has ever even come close to beating Joe at this song." Kevin said.

"Oh-well, there's a first time for everything, I guess." I said.

"Yeah-I'm getting that a lot today." Joe said and Willy Wonka laughed. Mr. Jonas came into the doorway and touched his nose. Willy Wonka looked at his watch.

"Alright, Nerd, time to go." He said.

"No! We have to have a tie breaker." Joe whined. I smiled.

"Yeah-pwease?" I asked, giving him my best puppy dog eyes. He caved.

"Alright-one more song." He said and Joe high-fived me. I giggle and he went back to the song menu. He flipped down to Message in a Bottle by the Police.

"Random song, much?" I laughed.

"Not many can do it-I love it." He said and I shrugged. We started playing. He really got into it, rocking out and I gently pushed him and he fell onto the couch, messing up.

"That's cheating!" He yelled.

"What? Jealous you can't keep up?" I taunted. He pushed me and I fell onto the couch, not missing anything. Kevin and Nick clapped.

The song finally ended and I flexed my sore fingers. The scores came up and I looked at Joe, his haw dropping. Kevin and Nick cheered. Joe looked at me and smiled.

"Dayum-smart, good at guitar hero, and cute? I think I can handle that." He said, winking. Butterflies. I smirked-glancing him up and down, sizing him up. I took off the controller, setting it on the couch, trying to hide my smile. I turned away and Kevin pulled me into a hug.

"That was amazing." He said, laughing. I smiled.

"Not really-I just got skills." I said.

"Alright, Nerd-say goodbye-we've gotta go." I smiled at the boys.

"It was nice meeting you guys." I said, Nick pulling me into a hug. His parents hugged me and I finally felt welcome somewhere.

"Don't be a stranger." Their mom whispered in my ear. I nodded, smiling. Joe walked us to the door.

"See you around?" He asked me as Willy Wonka walked to the car. I nodded, smiling. I continued to the car, still smiling. I shut the door and he started to pull out of the driveway. I saw Joe shut the door and thought about the comment he made after I beat him. He called me cute. Me. I felt my face get warm. He was cute, too.

"Chrissie?" Uncle Charlie began. Here it comes.

"Uncle Charlie" I returned.

"We have to talk." He said gently.

"You're breaking up with me?" I gasped, joking around. He chuckled.

"I might if you don't tell me what was going on with you today." He said, getting serious. I sighed.

"I just…You're my favorite uncle. I just don't want to see you hurt again. And I know it's none of my business, but I just worry about you…after last time…" I trailed off, tears forming in my eyes. He pulled off the road and parked the car, pulling me into a hug.

"Chrissie-you have nothing to worry about. You're the only girl in my life." He whispered. "I promise." He kissed my head. "I love you, baby girl." He said, squeezing me tighter.

"I love you, too." I whispered back. He pulled away and picked up Carli's number, crumpling it up and he opened the window. He threw the paper out and I smiled.

"Now let's go home and get you settled in." I grinned.

"Let's." I agreed. He put the car in drive and we headed to his house.

"So…" He began in a teasing voice. I looked at him. "Joe's a nice kid." He said and I immediately knew where this was going.

"They all are." I said, cutting his idea off. Yeah-Joe was cute and sweet, but they all were.

"Yeah-but Joe especially." He hinted.

"No. Don't start, Willy Wonka." I said. He chuckled.

"Fine." We pulled into his driveway-only five minutes from the Jonas' Residence. He got my bags out and we headed inside.