What About Us?

I was let out the hospital the following morning. Nick had picked me up, with Gabby. The both of them questioned me about Joe, and how I managed to get his clothes. I lied, saying how he must have left them there while I was asleep. They believed it, and I didn't have to explain what happened. I could barely get my head around it, let alone go and explain it to his family.

The matter was dropped by day 2. My stitches dissolved and by the time I had been in NY for two weeks, I was ready to go home.

"You're going home tomorrow." Gabby said, throwing herself onto the couch next to me. I rolled my eyes at her. Whilst being stuck indoors, she kept me company, while Nick and everyone else was sorting out stuff for a new tour. "I'm going to be lonely." She moaned.

"You'll live." I replied, patting her knee. She stuck her tongue out at me and I got off the couch, walking into the kitchen. She followed me like a lost puppy.

"What time is your flight?" She asked, sitting on the counter, while I fished in the fridge for 2 drinks.

"About 11am." I replied, grabbing 2 bottles of water out. I tossed one to her. "So it will take an hour to get there and I want to be there with plenty of time, just incase. So Nick is going to take me at 7am."

"Too early." She moaned, flapping her hands around. If I have learnt anything about Gabby in the last week, it's that she hates early mornings. "I'm going to stay here." She announced. I laughed, joining her on the counter. No one else was in so we could do it without getting told off. "So have you heard from Joe recently? The news is that he has gone MIA from family life. Apparently he is showing up for these meetings and looking like a hobo."

"Who is calling him a hobo? You?" I asked with a painful chuckle.

"Kevin said it." She replied, grinning. "Apparently he is all grumpy and moody and then he will just go home."

"That might have something to do with me." I said, giving her a side look. She almost bounced up and down.

"I knew something happened that day! What was it?" She gripped my arm tightly.

"If you let go of my arm, I'll tell you." She retracted her claws out of my good arm. "Basically, Joe snuck into my room that night in the hospital and told me he loved me." I couldn't be bothered with the whole thing. There was a long pause before Gabby spoke.

"What?" She said, confused. "Like I love you, thank god we are friends? Or I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." I replied.

"And what did you say? Clearly it was bad!"

"Do you think?" I exhaled. "He is getting married. I told him I didn't feel the same way."

"You are an idiot." She replied, flat out. "You had your chance, Allie. You could have grabbed the bull by its balls and taken it."

"I think it's horn." I said in connection with her metaphor. "I couldn't tell him. It made me so angry that he was saying it so I told him." I was feeling weaker about the situation.

"How did the conversation start?"

"He was angry that I didn't tell him about leaving-" Gabby cut me up.

"And you are about to do it? Leave without telling him!" She jumped off the counter. "Allie, you can't do it again." Her voice was softer now. "I'm putting my foot down, I can't let you do it." I had been having the same thoughts since I booked up my ticket. How could I do it to Joe again?

"You need to keep quiet about this. I need you to take me to Joe's. Now." She jumped up in the air, pulling me off the counter into a hug. "Seriously, you can't even tell Nick. And if I'm not back by the time they are back, I got in contact with an old friend, and we are having dinner." She nodded her head.

"Okay, I got it. Now let's get in the car, Allie." She grabbed my cast and attempted to move me by it.

"Hold on." I said to her. "Don't sing." Her mouth slammed shut and she let me go. I ran upstairs, opening my suitcase and grabbing my makeup bag. I put on a little mascara and lipgloss, trying to make it look as natural as possible. It was hard, trying to put makeup on with a broken arm. I ran back downstairs after putting the things back in my bag. I looked at Gabby, who was tapping away on her phone. "You aren't telling Nick are you?" I made her jump.

"Kevin in fact." She replied, slipping her phone into her pocket. "They are on their way home from this meeting, which means that Joe is probably half way home. If we leave now, he will be home."

"Okay boss." I saluted her. She slapped me in the arm and walked out the front door. I locked it with the key Denise left me and we went to Gabby's little car. I climbed in, slamming the door behind me.

"Now, what are you going to say to him?" I looked at Gabby as she pulled out of the driveway. She glanced over at me. "C'mon, you must have some sort of speech in mind."

"I don't have a clue what to say. It might just all spew out. I might just say goodbye."

* * *

As we pulled up outside Joe's house, I could see his car sitting outside. I took a massive breath of air, turning to Gabby. "I can't do this." I said.

"Yes you can." She replied, turning to look at me. "It's Joe. Just remember that."

"That's filling me with confidence." I muttered. I threw my phone into my bag and flipped the visor down, looking at myself.

"You look fabulous. Get out of my car." I rolled my eyes at her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. I pushed open the door, climbing out.

"I'll ring you when I want picking up." She nodded her head and once I slammed the door, she drove away. I sighed, walking up to Joe's door and knocking on it. I patted my foot against the step, waiting for Joe to answer the door. "Why am I doing this?" I muttered to myself. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing Joe.

"Allie." He sighed, looking at me. I stared at him, noticing the bags under his eyes, the sweats he was wearing and the scruff on his chin. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." I mumbled. He nodded his head, letting me in. I walked into his lounge, noticing paper and magazines everywhere. "Joe, what is all this?"

"Oh." He said, looking around. He shifted some of the papers off the couch, sitting down. "Rose called off the wedding." My mouth dropped open in shock. "The day you were in hospital. She called me when we were in the kitchen and done it then and there."

"Shit Joe." I said, sitting next to him. He nodded his head, running his hand across his head. "What? Why?" I couldn't think of anything to say. "Because of us?"

"Maybe. She just said that being with her family made her realise that she rushed into all of it. She wanted to travel the world, that's what she said." He looked around the room. "I've been left here with cancelling a wedding."

"Have you told anyone?" I asked, picking up a piece of paper, reading the catering list. That was almost $40,000 by itself. "You can't do all this by yourself."

"They have been too busy with the new tour. I didn't want to bother them." He said.

"They have noticed something is wrong." I said, turning to look at him. "Kevin thinks you look like a hobo." Joe let out a little laugh, shaking his head.

"I haven't been totally into it, I guess." He sighed. "I guess I've had a pretty shit week." I couldn't help but laugh. He looked at me.

"I'm in the same place." I waved my cast in the air. Joe grabbed hold of it, turning it softly.

"Is it okay?" He asked. I caught his eyes go to my forehead. "That looks fine now."

"Nothing hurts anymore." I told him, wiggling my fingers. "I've got another 4 weeks in this." He nodded his head, pressing his finger against where the cut was on my head. "Joe, are you okay?"

"My fiancee dumped me a week ago and when I told my best friend that I loved her, she said she didn't feel the same way." He said. I bit my lip, looking at him. "I could be doing better."

"Go upstairs and have a shower and shave because I agree with Kevin, the hobo look doesn't suit you." We both laughed, avoiding each others eyes. "And I'll make you some dinner." He nodded his head, getting off the couch. "And I'll tidy up. You should talk to your parents about this, Joe. They can help."

"Thanks Allie." He pressed a kiss against my forehead before walking upstairs. I got off the couch, blowing my hair out of my eyes. I didn't expect that and it made my feel worse about what I was about to do. I was going to leave him when he needed me the most. I started to pick up the pieces of paper that were spread all over the lounge, looking through them. Joe was losing almost $300,000 from this wedding.

I wanted to call Rose a coward. She called off the engagement and left Joe to sort it all out. She was probably sat with her family, laughing at Joe while he had a breakdown. Joe needed his family at this point.

I grabbed all the paper and threw it onto a table in the corner of the room. I didn't want to look at it, let alone let Joe. I heard the water running upstairs and I hoped that Joe shaved his face. I walked into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. I grabbed the bacon, throwing it onto the side as I opened the cupboard. I pulled the pasta out and started to look for a saucepan. As I started to cook the pasta and bacon, I heard Joe walk into the kitchen. I turned to look at him, his face smooth again and wearing a different pair of sweats.

"You look better." I commented. He nodded his head and sat at the counter, looking at me. "Everyone would be pretty impressed about the lack of hobo-ness." He let out a soft laugh.

"Yeah, I feel a little better after that shower." I smiled at him. "I could use a hug, Allie." I stopped stirring the pasta and looked at him. "Please Al."

"Okay." I said, walking over to him. He stood up, meeting me half way. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he pulled me closer. I rested my cheek against his chest, hearing his heartbeat increasing. He rested his cheek against the top of my head, sighing softly. "Joe." I whispered, placing my hands against his hips, ready to push him away. It was quite hard, especially with one hand.

"Okay." He replied, pulling himself away from me. "I'm okay." He attempted to smile at me, but I didn't believe it. I watched him walk over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of beer. "You?" He asked, holding one out for me. I looked at the clock, which was telling me it was only 5:30pm. I had been here for an hour. 13 hours until I had to wake up again.

"Sure." I replied. He handed me the bottle and I took a sip, enjoying the coldness of it. "How hungry are you?"

"A little bit." He said, coming and standing next to me. "Smells good Allie."

"Don't get too used to it, Joe." I winked at him. He laughed, grabbing two plates out of the cupboard. He put them into the surface and I put the pasta and bacon onto both the plates. He grabbed them both and moved them to the counter. I grabbed a fork each for us and went to sit beside him. "Domestic Joe." I laughed, taking a mouthful of food.

"I can be domestic." He said, spitting food everywhere. I laughed, stabbing him with my fork. 

"I can't believe she ended it." I muttered.

"Really Allie?" He turned to look at me, one of his eyebrows arched. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"Sorry." I said, taking another sip out of my drink. "If she didn't call it all off, would you have told me how you felt?" I took another mouthful of food before looking at Joe.

"I don't know." He said after a few moments. "I was debating it. I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to drop Rose off like she meant nothing. It wasn't fair. But she did it to me, so we will never know." I nodded my head, drinking some more. "Would you have left if you didn't get into the crash?"

"Yes." I said, automatically. I could see from the corner of my eye that Joe's face fell. "I'm sorry, but I would have. I couldn't stay." He stared at me.

"Why?" He asked. I shook my head at him. "Allie, why couldn't you stay?"

"Because I couldn't." I replied, finishing my food. I pushed the plate away from the table and leant back in my chair. I grabbed hold of my beer, taking a long swig of it. I put the empty bottle next to the plate.

"Okay." Joe said, nodding his head. He grabbed the two plates and put them into the sink. He turned to look at me, his eyes glancing over my face slowly. "Okay." He repeated. He finished his beer and walked over to the fridge, pulling another 2 out. I nodded my head and he handed it to me. "Do you want to go and sit in the lounge?"

* * *

The both of us was stretched out on the couch, a blanket covering the both of us. We both had finished our third beers and was watching a rerun of My Sweet 16. "How spoilt are these kids?" I said, getting annoyed at them getting annoyed.

"It is stupidly stupid." Joe said, making me laugh. I looked up at the clock that sat on Joe's wall and it read 10pm. I let out a soft yawn, rubbing my eyes with my good hand. "You tired Al?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I am quite." I replied. "I'm going to head off." I untangled my legs from Joe and the blanket. I stood up, stretching.

"How are you going to get back?" He asked, standing up. 

"I'll get a cab, it's fine." I said, grabbing my bag and throwing it over my shoulder. Joe eyed me. "You can't drive me, you have had too much to drink and I'm not ringing Nick up, I know he is spending the night with Gabby. So it's fine, I'll get a taxi."

"Fine, but you have to let me know when you get back to mums, okay?" I nodded my head and started walking to the front door. Joe followed me, looking lost. As I stared at him, I felt a wave of guilt. I hadn't come here to do what I wanted to do and I was about to leave again just after his fiancé called off the wedding. "Allie." Joe said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him to see his eyebrows narrowed in confusion. I stepped forwards, wrapping my arms around his waist. He gripped hold of me, his arms tight against my back.

"I lied." I muttered. He pushed me back by my shoulders, looking into my eyes. I sighed, grabbing hold of his forearms.

"Lied about what, Al?" He asked, rubbing his thumb against my collar bone.

"About us." I replied. Joe continued to stare at me, confusion covering his face. "About what you asked me at the hospital. You asked me if I felt the same. I lied." A rush of relief covered the confusion.

"Tell me." He whispered, moving his hand from my shoulder and to my cheek. He ran his finger across my cheekbones, a smile covering his lips. "Tell me what you wanted to say."

"I love you." I said. Joe's face turned into a massive grin. "I always have and always will. It's always been you Joe. And that's why I needed to leave. Because I couldn't see you marry someone who wasn't me. I'm sorry."

"What are you apologising for Allie? You don't know how long I have wanted to hear you say those words." A smile covered both our faces. "I knew that you were lying."

"No you didn't." I giggled in reply. He laughed, pulling me back to his chest. I rested my head against his heart, hearing it pound.

"Stay?" He whispered, rubbing his hand across my back. "Just for tonight. I need you here."

"Only for tonight, Joe. You've just spilt up with your fiancé, it doesn't need announcing to everyone." I muttered into his chest.

"Okay, fine." He replied. He grabbed my hand, pulling me away from him. "Come on, let's sit back down." He pulled me into the lounge and onto his lap. He rested his forehead against my shoulder and I tangled my hand in his hair. "What are we going to do, Al?"

"God knows Joe." I whispered. He sighed and patted my leg. I turned to look at him and he moved slightly. I shifted so I was straddling his lap. He rested his forehead against mine, his breath tickling my face.

"Do we do this Allie? Do we do it again?" I shrugged my shoulders and he sighed again. "A little help here, Aleah." He let out a laugh, it sounded a bit desperate.

"Can't we just accept that we both love each other, Joe?" I whispered to him. He lifted our heads so that we were looking each other in the eyes. "Just have tonight and then decide in the morning." I barely had time to breath before Joe's lips were on mine. Both his hands rested against the bottom of my back, playing with my t-shirt. I wrapped my arms around his neck, playing with his hair.

"Are we doing this?" Joe asked, pulling away from me. I licked my lips, watching as his eyes travelled down to watch me. "Are we making out?"

"We were." I said, laughing. Joe smiled and grabbed me once more, pulling me towards him. We both shifted so we were closer and we let out bodies do the talking. Joe moved, so he was sitting on the edge of the couch, me still in his lap. He stood up, our lips and tongues still connected. I wrapped my legs around his waist, his hands under my butt, holding me steady. He stumbled out of the room, his grip still strong on me and he carried us up the stairs.

* * *

I woke up suddenly, a mysterious noise forcing me awake. I looked around to see a little light coming through the crack in the curtain. I followed the light and saw it shining on Joe's back. And then it hit me. I had slept with Joe. Me and Joe had just had sex with each other. I ran my hand across my face, feeling panic wash over my body. This is not why I came here last night, the reason I came was to tell Joe I was leaving.

"Shit." I muttered, looking around to see a clock. I found Joe's alarm clock and it flashed 5:30am. I looked around, slowly climbing off the bed. I let the sheet covering Joe and slid my clothes on. I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket, happy that it didn't fall out when Joe was taking them off. I snuck into his bathroom that was attached to his room and shut the door. I dialled a number and waited for them to answer.

"Do you know what time it is?" Gabby muttered down the phone. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Be quiet. I need you to do me a favour." I whispered. I could hear Nick snoring in the background and I wanted to jump with joy.

"What is it?" She whispered, sounding more awake.

"I need you to pick me up from Joe's." I whispered. As I waited for her to reply, I listened out, hoping that Joe didn't wake up. "And take me to the airport."