What About Us?

"So, is your Gabby coming to Dani and Kevin's with us?" Me and Nick were lying on the bed, watching a re-run of Keeping Up With The Kardasians and eating ice cream.

"She doesn't want to make things awkward between the three of us." Nick replied, shoving a spoonful of strawberry ice cream into his mouth.

"Seriously? You're the one who doesn't tell me and she think she'll make it awkward." For that comment, I received a pinch on the arm. "Dude, I was joking!" I mumbled, rubbing where a massive red mark was increasing in size. "But seriously, invite her Nick. I want to get to know her."

"You just sounded like mum when she found out." Nick threw his phone into my stomach. "You text her and ask." His eyes turned to the TV screen, glued to the drama.

To- Gabby.
Hi it's Allie texting from Nick's phone! I was just wondering if you were busy tonight? Kevin and Danielle are having a movie night at theirs and I wanted to invite you! :)

"There." I tossed his phone back to him. "I was polite like the lovely person I am."

"Mmm...sure." Nick replied, reading over the text. He smiled, rested his phone against his stomach before looking at me. "So how was the slumber party with Joe?" He threw in a wink to make his point.

"Don't start me on that." I muttered, throwing my hand across my face. "If you didn't ring me last night, me and Joe would have probably made the biggest mistake of our lives." Nick turned his whole body towards me so fast that the ice cream tub nearly ended up on the both of us.

"What?" He squealed, his voice going higher than usual. "What the hell happened? Did you two...y'know?" He screwed his nose up, making me laugh at how childish he was being.

"No no no." I shook my head, taking another mouthful of ice-cream. "We were both drinking still and then Joe tickled me and beer went everywhere. So he gave me some clothes, saw my tattoos and just went off the rails. He had me up against the wall, my legs around his waist, his hands on my butt and-"

"Ew, thanks for the mental image, Al." He muttered, pressing his hand against his head as if to get it out. "Skipping the graphics, then what happened?"

"That was the graphics. Apart from we weren't wearing shirts." Nick screwed his nose up again. "Oh please, we didn't even kiss. We were just...feeling each other up."

"Dude!" He threw his hands up in the air in protest. "You're my best friend, he is my brother, I don't need the details."

"I won't tell you what happened that night of your 16th birthday." Nick shoved his fingers into my ribs, making me laugh. "Then," I said, getting back onto my original point. "You rang and my phone was downstairs. I pulled myself away from Joe, left him and went downstairs. He followed after I listened to your voicemail and then cuddled me and said "for tonight, let's have this." And then I woke up this morning with him spooning me."

"Oh dear god." He said, eating more ice cream. "Your life is pretty shit at the moment." I smacked him in the head with my spoon. "Did you ever find out why he invited you here?"

"I don't think it was to get off with me whilst his fiancée was away, do you?"

"I don't know the insane workings of my brother's brain, never claim to." We both burst out laughing. As we tried to calm ourselves down, Joe walked through the door and our laughter increased like gas on fire. "Hey Joe." Nick said, after regaining himself.

"Do you mind leaving me and Allie alone for a bit? We need to talk." And all of a sudden, my laughter stopped. Nick looked over at me, his eyes questioning. I nodded my head and he nodded back, climbing off the bed and taking the ice cream tub too. I shuffled along, sitting where Nick was to allow Joe some room. Once the door shut, Joe turned to me. "We need to discuss last night, Allie."

"Nothing happened." I replied, pushing my hair out of my face. "We were both pretty drunk, Joe."

"You think that was just it?" He asked, his eyebrows knitting together. "You think it was just a drunk fumble in the night? I think it meant more to the both of us, Allie."

"Joe." I said, holding my hands up to him in protest. He stopped, his mouth closing shut. "You're getting married in like a month. That was just the alcohol, it didn't mean anything to me. So why does it mean anything to you?" The thing is with Joe is that he never knows when you are lying. And at that precise moment in time, I was lying through my back teeth. Of course it meant something to me, being drunk or not. Because over these last 4 days I had more feelings for Joe than the last 2 years we had been split up.

"Oh." He said, his jaw locked in what I assumed was anger. "Okay." And with that, he walked out the room, forcing the door open with a little too much force. I sighed, once he left and threw my hands over my face in annoyance. Why couldn't I say, 'hey Joe, crazy thing happened. I still have these feelings for you and I can't explain them. Have fun at your wedding!' I heard a knock on the door and Nick's head popping around it.

"What happened then? Joe just stormed out of the house." I shook my head, sighing. "Granted, he is coming back. He has left his car." Nick threw himself next to me.

"It all got a bit confusing." I rubbed my forehead in frustration. "He thought that meant something...was something between us. I told him it wasn't. It was just the alcohol. He obviously didn't it well. I just don't know anymore. Why should he care?"

"Do you want to hear my theory?" Nick asked. I nodded, moving so I was sitting opposite. "I think that the reason he invited you here is because he is having doubts. About marrying Rose. He invited you here to clear the doubt but then, once you got here, he realised what he is doing and all these feelings came back. I think that you are making him doubt his decisions." I just stared at Nick. What he was saying, it did make sense.

"I don't want him to be in any doubt. I want him to marry Rose. I want him to-"

"Pick you." Once again, I just stared at Nick. "C'mon, Allie, I'm your best friend. Things ended badly with you and Joe and neither of you have had the guys to face the other, which then means that you haven't got over each other. So you are stuck in this loop."

"I..." I couldn't say anything. Nick was right, I was stuck in the same loop. And because Joe was getting married, I was seriously stuck.

"Allie." He said, wrapping his arms around my, rubbing my arm. I clung onto his biceps, hoping that what I was about to say didn't ruin everything.

"I'm going to go home." Nick abruptly pulled away from me, his hands gripping at my shoulders.

"What?" He asked, his eyes stuttering over my face. "You can't leave, not now. Not now you are here."

"It's for the best, Nicholas." I said, standing up and away from him. "For Joe, for me. It's not doing anyone any good me staying here. So if I leave, both me and Joe have the chance to carry on our lives, pretending none of this happened."

"Is that what you want?" Nick asked, his voice raised slightly. "You just want to leave Joe again?"

"You know that if I had the choice, Nick, I'd stay."

"Then stay!" I looked over at him, his face flushed red with anger. Anger that I didn't expect from Nick. "It's going to kill Joe watching you walk out again Aleah. You and I both know that."

"And it will kill me if I watch him get married!" I replied, my voice matching the volume of Nick's. "You think that if I could go back in time that I wouldn't change this whole situation. You know that if I could, it would be me instead of Rose." I let out a massive breath of air, once I'd realised what I said.

"And now we have the truth, Allie." He muttered. I pressed my hand against my forehead, the headache increasing. "Tell him."

"No." I replied, walking over to stand in front of him. "Because I'm not selfish, Nick. I'm going to let him get married to her, because that's what friends do." I told him. "I'm going to leave in 2 days Nick. I'll do the whole week here and then I'm going. And not turning back."

"If you don't tell him, I will."

"No you won't." I replied, staring him down. "Because if you value our friendship, you won't."

"I can't watch the two of you throw this chance away."

"If this situation was different, maybe not. But Joe is going to get married and I'm going home." I pressed my lips against his forehead, resting there. "I'm going to get into the shower, and the both of us are going to forget about this conversation, got it?" Nick nodded and I moved away from him.

"I think you're being stupid."

"Story of my life, Nick."

* * *

Once I'd gotten out the shower, feeling much better after a night of stupidness and alcohol, I got ready. I knew this movie night was going to be casual so I settled for some jeans and a plain t-shirt. I left my hair, knowing it would go curly. As I was applying some mascara to my eyes, I could hear soft voices outside my door. I walked over to it, pulling it open quietly.

"Babe." It was Joe's voice. "Nothing's wrong. I just missed the sound of your voice. Aren't I aloud to?" There was an awkward pause as Joe waited for a reply. "I know, but not too long before we are married. And then we have the rest of lives together. I love you." Another pause. "Okay, bye babe." Suddenly footsteps moved closer to me so I dashed back towards the mirror, acting like I hadn't been over hearing the conversation. 

"Allie." He knocked on the door. I walked over to it, pulling it open with unneeded force. His lips held a pathetic smile. "I'm going to drive you to Kevin's. Is that alright? It's just that Nick is going to pick up Gabby and she lives out of the way a bit. And he has just left so..."

"It's fine." I attempting to give him some sort of smile. He nodded his head before turning away. As I went to shut the door, he turned around. 

"In about 10 minutes?" I replied with a nod of the head, before shutting the door fully. I sighed, resting my head against the door. This couldn't be any more awkward if we tried. I shook the awkwardness out of my head and continued with my make up. I took my time, dragging out the 10 minutes I had. I slipped on a pair of shoes, slid my phone into my pocket and grabbed my purse before I walked downstairs. Denise sent me a massive smile as I walked into the lounge. She sat alone on the couch, reading a book.

"Hi." I said, going over to her and sitting on the couch. "Are you joining us tonight?"

"No." She replied, putting her book down to turn to me. "With all of you out the house and Frankie around his friends, me and Paul are going to have some dinner together."

"How lovely." I smiled at her.

"I spoke to Joseph earlier, while you were upstairs with Nicholas." I bit my lip, but nodded my head anyway. "He seemed a bit...edgy. Did something happen last night?"

"It's a bit complicated, Denise." I said, running my hand through my damp hair. "It was stupid..."

"Allie." Joe's head was stuck around the door into the lounge, his hair sticking out at every angle. It made him look really cute. "Are you ready?" I nodded my head, before standing up. I pressed a kiss to Denise's cheek.

"I'll talk to you later." She winked in reply, before I walked towards Joe.

"Don't come back before 8!" She yelled as we walked out the door. I laughed, following Joe out to his car. I jumped into the passenger seat, tossing my phone and my purse into my lap. Joe started the engine, before pulling out of the drive and tearing down the road.

"What was you talking to mum about?" Joe asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Family. She was asking me." I replied, sending him a smile. "Joe, your hair is crazy!" I leant over, trying to flatten his hair. He laughed, shaking his head away from me.

"Leave it, it is giving me the rough look!" I burst into laughter, shaking my head at him.

"It doesn't make you look rough, you look like you've been pulled through a bush backwards!" He pouted, poking me in the face. "Let me sort it out." I leant over, pushing it down trying to sort it out. Joe relaxed at my touch, smiling as he drove. His hand rested on my thigh, his eyes glancing over to me. I knew it was his way of asking me if it was okay. I brought my hand from his head, linking my fingers through his. He let out a noise of content, keeping his other hand on the steering wheel.

"Are you and Nick okay now?" He asked.

"Yeah. He explained it all really, and then I understood."

"What did he say?"

"Basically, he forgot that I existed really. That's why he didn't tell me." I bit into my lip, feeling a little awkward.

"Seriously?" Joe asked, his eyes flicking over to me. I nodded my head, staring out the window. Joe gave my left a soft squeeze, making me smile. "You are very hard to forget about, Aleah."

"Likewise, Joseph." I laughed, leaning forwards to turn on the radio. 

"Look at you, making yourself comfortable in my car." Joe said, sounded as if he was shocked. "You kinda fit in this car, it's very you."

"Let me drive it then." I waited for his reply.

"No babe. Just no." I laughed, my heart fluttering at the term of endearment. "I've seen you drive before, and I am really fond of this car." Suddenly, my phone started to ring. I grabbed it, seeing it was Nick.

"Yes?" I asked, not even bothering with niceties.

"Where are you?" He asked, a lot of noise coming through the phone.

"Somewhere." I replied, as if I knew. "Joe, how long are we going to be?"

"We are literally turning into the road now." Joe told me.

"I heard. I'll see you in a bit." I hung up, not bothering with saying goodbye. Joe swung into a driveway, pushing a button to let us in. We waited for them to open the gate and then Joe pulled in next to Nick's car. We both climbed out of the car, walking to the front door that was open. We slipped in, taking our shoes off.

"We are in the kitchen." Kevin shouted, his voice echoing through the house. I followed Joe, not knowing where I was going. We saw the four of them sitting around the table with loads of take away menus. "We are trying to decide what to eat." Kevin told us as me and Joe sat at the table.

"I need food." I moaned, grabbing a few to look at. 

"You always need food." Joe muttered, leading me to send my elbow into his ribs. "Oww, thanks for that!" He pouted. I shrugged my shoulders, looking around the table. I saw Nick with his arm wrapped around the back of the chair Gabby was sitting on. I smiled at her and she sent one back.

"Hey." She said to me. Everyone stopped to look at us, a Chinese menu was hanging in Joe's hand.

"Hi." I replied, sending her a smile. "It seems everyone is catching flies." Nick, Kevin, Danielle and Joe shut their mouths as me and Gabby burst into laughter.

"It's obvious that you two are going to get along." Nick muttered, throwing a menu at me. I stuck my tongue out at him before they all went back to talking.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night, with Nick." I shook my head, smiling at her.

"Seriously, it's fine. Me and Nick are fine now. He explained it all." She blushed, turning away slightly. "It's all good."

"Okay." She nodded, smiling back..

"Chinese?" Joe shoved the menu in my face. I pushed his hands away, grabbing the menu off him.

"I'm up for anything really. I'm just hungry." I tossed the menu back into the middle.

"Chinese it is." Danielle grabbed the menu I had just thrown back. "Write down what you want." She gave Nick a pad and pen.

"So what's mum and dad doing tonight?" Kevin asked, getting up and passing me and Joe a can of lemonade each.

"Having dinner, apparently." I replied, taking a sip of my drink. "Frankie is out, and they don't want us to be back before 8." Everyone screwed their nose up. "That's what she told me, I'm just passing on the message."

"Thanks." Nick's voice oozed sarcasm. I rolled my eyes at him before I was thrown the notepad. I scribbled down what I wanted, handing it to Joe. His hand slid down to my leg, putting it on my knee. 

"Don't." I muttered, pushing his hand off my leg. He looked at me, his eyebrows narrowed. "Not here, in front of your family." He nodded, looking slightly disappointed.

"So movies." Kevin leant against the island in the middle of the kitchen, his arm wrapped around Dani's waist. "I was thinking Taken then Taken2."

"Sure." We all agreed to these two films. We waited for Danielle to order all of our food, before kicking back.

"Guys, go and set the den up for us." Danielle said. The four of us stood up and started to walk away. "Allie, you can help me with the snacks and drinks." I stopped, grabbing hold of Gabby's arm. She looked at me.

"If I'm going down, you're coming too." I muttered, making her laugh.

"Don't worry, babe, I'll help you!" Kevin went to grab the food she was getting out of the cupboard. She smacked his hand away from the bar of chocolate.

"They can help, go make downstairs comfortable." She sent him along with a smile. The boys walked downstairs, talking to each other. "Sit and explain about you and Joe." I sighed, sitting on the island.

"Hold on." Gabby said, leaning against the counter with Danielle. "You and Joe dated?" I nodded my head.

"Quick run down. Me and Joe dated for like 2 years and then spilt up and it went wrong. But then Joe met Rose and now they are getting married. But when I got my wedding invite there was a note inviting me here, so here I am." I informed her. She stared at me for a few seconds, before nodding.

"I think I've got there." She said, making me and Dani laugh.

"Just wait!" I laughed. "After fighting with Nick, I went back to Joe's and we drunk some more. And then one thing led to another and we then went for a fumble at one point. Don't ask, nothing overly happened. Just a bit of touching. And then we had an argument about how it meant nothing to each other. And then on the drive over here, I was sorting out his hair and he put his hand on my thigh and then he tried earlier and I pushed him off."

"That's a lot of things to process!" Danielle sighed, leaning back against the counter. Both of them looked totally lost.

"Don't. I can't even explain it if I try." I waved my hands around, sighing. "It's like...how it was before."

"Do you know why Joe asked you here?" Gabby asked.

"No, he hasn't told me. He was going to and then he didn't. Nick has a theory."

"Nick would." Gabby muttered, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"So what are you going to do?" Danielle asked, looking over at me.

"I'm leaving, in 2 days. I can't stay here, it's doing neither one of us any good. I just haven't told Joe yet." I shrugged my shoulders. Danielle walked over to me, attempting to wrap her arm around me. I laughed, resting my arm on her shoulder.

"But...you need to help me pick out a birthday present for Nick." Gabby pouted. I laughed at her.

"We can go tomorrow, if you'd like. I've got nothing to do." She smiled, nodding her head. "Here, type your number into it." I tossed her my phone. "You can come too, Dani." She nodded her head.

"Might as well get one for the idiot." She mumbled.

"Are you actually coming down here, guys?" Kevin stuck his head around the doorway. "Or are we just going to sit around like idiots?"

"We are coming." Danielle mumbled, grabbing some of the snacks. Me and Gabby followed her and down the stairs we went. We got to the den, couches everywhere and blankets. We tossed the food into the little table in the middle and we all took to the couches. Dani and Kevin on one, Gabby and Nick on another and me and Joe taking the littlest one. I rolled my eyes, looking at Danielle, who was trying not to laugh.

"Now, shall we start the movies or wait until the food comes?" Kevin asked, relaxing back into the couch, an arm around Dani. "Because I am hungry man."

"You are a man, you're always hungry." I replied, sending him a wink. He stuck his tongue out at me. The doorbell went upstairs and you have never seen Kevin Jonas move so fast. He tore up the stairs, calling for Joe after him. Joe reluctantly followed, dragging his feet along.

"Did you know she is leaving in 2 days?" Danielle asked Nick, pointing at me. He nodded.

"There is no point in trying to stop her. She is stubborn." I smiled at him. "So I guess she explained what happened?"

"Better than you did." Gabby poked him in the ribs, receiving a squirm in return. He pouted and she pressed a kiss to him cheek. I smiled at them both. I leant forwards, grabbing my can of lemonade, sipping it slowly.

"It's for the best." I said just before Kevin and Joe walked downstairs, plates and food in their hands. I grinned as they dumped them in the middle.

* * *

After stuffing our faces with Chinese and fizzy drinks, we all felt overly full and lazy. "I've got to go and use the toilet." I groaned, standing up and stretching. I felt my t-shirt ride up a little and my jeans go down.

"I didn't know you had tattoos." Kevin said, his voice loud in the room. I pulled the side of my jeans down, showing them my bow.

"I've got one on each hip." I told them. As I turned to go out of the room, I caught Joe's eye and he smiled at me. I ran upstairs, did my business and walked back into the den. They had covered each couch with cushions and blankets. I sat next to Joe and he threw a different blanket to me.

"Get comfy." He told me. I leant back, wrapping the blanket around my body. Suddenly, Joe's legs flew over mine, his feet digging into my thighs. "I'm just getting comfy." I looked over at Danielle, who was tucked under the blanket she shared with Kevin. With a push of a button, Kevin had managed to turn the lights out and put the DVD on. Joe yawned as the tittle sequence came on. 

"Tired?" I whispered to him. He nodded his head, leaning shifting slightly so his head was pressed against my shoulder. He slipped his hand into mine as subtle as possible, giving it a squeeze. "Don't fall asleep." I said into his hair, pressing a kiss against his head.

"I'll try not to. I am tired."

"Had a bad night's sleep?" I asked him, fully aware that last night was the night we spent together.

"I had some things on my mind and a person taking up most of the bed." He replied, a cheeky smile on his face.

"I did not take up that much room!" I protested. He laughed, poking me in the cheek.

"You're like a starfish, you just stretch out with every limb." I forced my thumbnail into the back of his hand. He let out a soft squeak, letting me know it hurt. "You're always done it, Allie."

"And you've always snored." I replied, smiling. He nudged me in the ribs, making me squirm. "We all know it to be true. We have shared a tour bus with you."

"Shut up Allie. I am a wonder to sleep with." Joe gave my hand a squeeze, smiling at me.

"If you two are done talking." Kevin said, his voice making me jump. "The rest of us are trying to watch a film."

"Hold on, I'm not comfortable." I said, shifting. The both of us fidgeted until my legs were thrown over his lap and his head rested on my shoulder. I rested my arm on the back of the couch, my hand playing with Joe's hair.

"I'll fall asleep." He muttered.

"I know."