What About Us?

Waking up the next morning seemed impossible. My alarm woke me up at 8 but the noise this family makes in such a big house, woke me up earlier. Dragging myself out of bed, I wandered downstairs, pulling at my shorts. I could hear the noise coming from the kitchen so I walked into there, smiling.

"Morning." I mumbled, my voice rough from sleep. They all smiled at me as Denise pottered around, making breakfast. "Do you need any help?" I asked, clearing my throat. She shook her head, patting my cheek.

"No, you are alright sweetheart. Go and sit down, there's coffee and toast." I grinned at her before placing myself in-between Nick and Frankie. Nick placed a cup in front of me, munching his food unattractively. Pouring the coffee out for me, I reached over to his plate, nicking the jam covered toast.

"Oi." He said, poking me in the side. I smiled at him, taking a bite out of my breakfast.

"You win some, you lose some." I shrugged, happily eating Nick's toast. He rolled his eyes, making himself some more. "You excited to try on suits this early in the morning?"

"Ergh." Frankie moaned from the side of me. I giggled, patting his head. "I hate Joe for doing this. I could be asleep right now." I smiled at him. What he didn't seem to realise is that what he had just said was such a Joe thing to say.

"Tough, because we have all got to do it." Paul groaned, making me smile. "But at least Joseph is less annoying than Kevin when he was getting married." 

"I thought I was going to kill him by the end of it, seriously. Dance now, suit fittings 2 months in advanced." Nick moaned.

"Poor Kevin, he wanted to best for Dani." I said before taking a sip out of the coffee Nick had made for me. It was almost perfect.

"Whereas Joe just can't be bothered by it, really. He isn't one for big events." Paul said, getting up and handing Denise his plate. "It's all down to Rose really. She wants the big event." I smiled at him as he walked out.

"Poor Joe." I mumbled, eating more toast.

"We've got to go." Denise said, in a rush. I watched her as she ran around the kitchen, grabbing random items. "Paul! Get down here!" She yelled after her husband. The three of us laughed as she ran out the room.

"Have fun." I winked at them as they started to get up from the table. Nick pressed his lips against my forehead before they walked out. I grabbed myself another slice of toast, feeling hungry this morning. Denise ran back into the kitchen, smiling at me.

"Dani will have Kevin's keys, she will lock the house." I nodded at her, my mouth filled with toast. "I don't know how long we will be but we should be back for about 4ish." I smiled at her.

"Dani's coming for me at 11 so we shall be back by then." She nodded her head, before pressing a kiss against my temple. "See you soon!" I shouted as they ran out of the house. Then I was left alone in a massive house.

* * *

After having a long shower, drying my hair and getting changed, I found myself on the couch watching Supernatural. Just as it finished, the front door swung open, revealing a flustered Danielle. I smiled at her as she walked into the lounge. 

"Crazy traffic today." She mumbled, shaking her head. I laughed as she fell beside me. "Now, why are we going shopping on this fine day?"

"Because I need a new dress for tonight. Because I am a woman and I can." We both laughed before I pulled myself off the couch. "Let's go, I said we will be back by 4."

"Why would we be out for 5 hours?" She said, moaning as she got off the couch. "Are we really going to be that long?"

"Probably." I replied, winked at her. She smiled back at me as we walked out the house. She locked the front door and we made our way to her car. "This is the first time since I've been here we have had some quality girl time." I announced as she backed out of the driveway.

"It really has. You've been occupied with  either Nick or Joe." She said, her voice giving off a slightly questioning tone.

"Don't start me on that." I rolled my eyes. "Joe keeps assuming there is something going on between us. It's driving me crazy. And then he won't explain why he made me come all the way over here. It's getting stupid." I rubbed my forehead in frustration.

"We didn't even know that you were coming, Allie. It was like, Joe calls, you came."

"You're telling me! I got his letter, booked myself on the first plane here and now I'm stuck. I don't know why I'm here and I'm pretty sure if she was here, I wouldn't be welcome."

"Yeah, but you and Joe had history." She said, barely taking her eyes off the road. "You are a threat to her. I bet she didn't even know that Joe told you to come. I know how I'd feel if one of Kevin's ex-girlfriends turned up out of the blue a month before I married him."

"I understand how she would feel. But it's not like I came here to get Joe back. I don't even know why I am here." I groaned, resting my head against the back of the chair.

"I'm not going to lie to you." Danielle said, making me look at her. "I don't think you were going to be invited to the wedding. Until that day Denise mentioned you. And then it was like, oh yeah Allie." I laughed. "The whole evening was just telling stories of what happened when you were here and stupid things that happened. She didn't say anything, just listened. I'm pretty sure she and Joe had an argument that night. Like terribly."

"I can see why she doesn't like me." I grumbled. "Joe doesn't make things easier for anyone does he?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot. Grabbing our things, we climbed out of the car. "She doesn't like me, I see why."

"Joe just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut." She mumbled as we walked through a pair of doors. "The trouble he could get most people in."

"Be honest with me Dani." I said, as we walked past a bunch of people. I hoped no one would recognise her otherwise we'd be in trouble. "Do you like Rose?" She came to an stop, surprising me.

"I like you more." She mumbled, looking around. Imagine if anyone had heard the whole conversation, that would cause a rift in the family. "Honestly."

* * *

"You are going to kill me." Danielle said as we sat in a small restaurant. I laughed, throwing my bags to the floor as I sat on the chair. "How many shops did you want to go in before we went back to that first shop?"

"I had to make sure there was nothing else out there." I grabbed a menu, browsing over it.

"You looked great in the first dress you tried on!" She said, pulling her phone out of her purse.

"Thanks." I flicked my hair over my shoulder dramatically. We both laughed as the waiter came over.

"Hi, I'm Jake, I'll be your waiter today. What can I get you to drink?" He winked at me. I wasn't going to deny that he was attractive, he just wasn't my type.

"Diet Coke, Allie?" I nodded my head at Danielle, who ordered herself one. "Thanks." We both said and he walked off. "Did he wink at you?"

"Yeah, it was a little awkward." I said, crossing my legs and leaning forwards. "Not my type, too much going on around his hair." We both laughed. "So what have I missed since I left?"

"Not much, really." She said, smiling at me. "Just married life." I laughed, smiling.

"And how's that going?" I asked, trying to be subtle about my question.

"That's fine." She replied, her eyebrows raised at me. "About that..." She looked around, making sure no one was listening. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"I need you to get me a test. I'm 4 days late." I smiled at her.

"Yeah sure." She nodded her head. "Do you think you are?"

"You know when they say you can feel it?" I smiled, nodding my head. "I don't feel it. This is me just making sure."

"Makes sense." The bloke wandered over with our drinks. "I'll have the chicken salad." I said when he asked me what I wanted. "Do you wanna get it after this?" By this time, waiter man was chatting up some other girls on another table.

"Yeah. Is it alright if you get it?" I nodded my head, taking a sip of my drink. "Because I really don't want to get caught. Kevin will hear it from the press before I tell him."

"It's fine, I understand. It's what happens when you marry a Jonas." I winked. She laughed, leaning back.

"It could have been you, Allie."

"Yeah, it could have been." I pondered over the thought. Me married to Joe, instead of him marrying Rose. "It's weird to think about it."

"If he had asked, when you were dating, would you? Marry him, I mean."

"I loved Joe. I really did. But I don't know, we were young. Maybe if we were together longer. We were together since we were 17 then broke up when we were 20. We were still young."

"Kevin proposed to me when I was 20." Danielle said, shrugging, taking a sip of her drink.

"But you were ready. I remember talking about it with you, marrying Kevin. You were so ready for it. You wanted that life, Dani. You wanted to be Danielle Jonas. It was what you were meant to be." I took a deep breath, taking a long drink. "I don't think I was meant to be Aleah Jonas. Me and Joe, it wasn't meant to last."

"If it was meant to last, it would be you marrying him instead of Rose."

"You're such a bitch." I grinned at her. She had turned the whole thing around back to our main point. Me marrying Joe. "Anyway, it's too late now. He has a month until the wedding."

"They like to do things quick these two. They were only dating for what, a year? And now they are planning a wedding in two months. She's gone off to see family and left Joe here to sort some of the stuff out." 

"You had nearly 6 months to plan your wedding, I can see how much stress it caused you. No wonder she hasn't killed Joe yet. I would have." I said as our food was brought over to us. I dug in, feeling rather hungry from our day shopping. Glancing at my phone, I saw that it was 2:30pm, we had been shopping for almost 4 hours without food.

"At least when I got married, I had the help of a wedding planner. She turned them all down. She wanted to do it, so she is. Just Rose and her mum." Danielle said after taking a mouthful of her own salad. "That would have killed me. I love my mum, but no."

"Imagine that. She must be so stressed out." My phone buzzed on the table beside me. I grabbed it quickly, reading who was calling me. "Nick." I told Danielle, who nodded her head. I answered the phone, pressing it against my ear. "Hello."

"Where are you?" He asked, a lot of noise coming from the background. He sounded like he was in a crowed room, he probably was.

"Still out with Dani, eating. Why?"

"Well, we are planning on leaving our house at 6:30pm to get there at 7 tonight." I held back the roll of my eyes as I could barely hear him. "Got it?"

"Loud and clear, Pres."

"Shut up Aleah. Bye." And with that, he hung up. I threw my phone against the table, sighing.

"Apparently, we are going to this place at 7 tonight." I said, eating some more of my food. "So we are leaving at 6:30." 

"Really?" Danielle moaned, taking another mouthful. "Don't men understand how long it takes to get ready? All they have to do is roll out of bed and get some clothes on. We have to do our hair, makeup and try on every piece of clothing we own. Boys have it so much harder."

"Wow, Dani, you are...crazy." We both burst into laughter.

* * *

Danielle dropped me off about 3:30, we  finished our meal, brought her the test and left. She was going to do it when Kevin got home. I noticed the family car was sitting in the driveway, which meant they were in. "Hello?" I shouted as I walked through the front door. I dropped the bags at the bottom of the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey!" Joe shouted, pointing his finger at me. "How was shopping?" I looked around, no one else was in the kitchen.

"Good thanks." I said, sitting next to him. "How was suit fitting?"

"Good. Everything fits everyone so I'm not complaining." I smiled at him.

"Where's Nick?" I asked. I noticed that his car wasn't in the driveway, which meant he had to do something.

"He had a few things to do." Joe shrugged. I stole one of his grapes he was eating, popping it into my mouth. "I dunno, he will be here later. He is going to drive us all to the club."

"So you are getting ready here, I guess?" I asked, stealing another. He nodded his head, leaning backwards on his chair. "That makes things easier."

"It does indeed. We are going out about 6:30? Will you be ready in time?" He pinched my cheeks, taking the mick out of me. I rolled my eyes and slapped his hands away. "I know you like to take your time, or have you changed your ways dearest Aleah?"

"Shut up." I muttered, standing up and flicking my hair over my shoulder. "I'm going to paint my nails, Joseph. So leave me alone."

"Let me come!" He moaned, standing up and throwing his arm around my shoulders. "I'm so bored! I'll leave you alone, just let come with you."

"Fine, but if you get annoying, Joe, I will throw you out." Joe grabbed all my bags and followed me up the stairs. "How gentlemanly." I said, making him laugh. I pushed open the door to my room and Joe closed it with his foot. He placed my bags onto my bed, sitting next to them. I rummaged through one of the bags, pulling out the pink nail varnish Dani made me buy.

"Pink? How very girly." I laughed at him, jumping onto the bed next to me. I grabbed a book I'd brought from home and put it on my lap. I undone the bottle and started painting my nails. "So are you excited for tonight?" He asked, looking at me. I glanced at him then got back to the task in hand.

"A little, yeah. It feels like I haven't gone out for ages." I admitted.

"I know what you mean." He sighed. "This wedding stuff has taken over. I haven't had the chance to breathe." I nodded my head, not wanting this conversation with Joe, not really. "Remember that time when we all went out for my 18th birthday?" Joe asked, going through my bags. I wasn't too bothered, I had only brought a few items of clothing and my dress. 

"When Kevin nearly threw up?" I asked, putting the lid back onto the bottle and blowing air onto my nails, drying them.

"That was hilarious." Joe chuckled. "And then mum panicked and made us go home early because she didn't want him throwing up in the restaurant." I laughed, remembering Denise's face. "And then me and you spent the evening in the yard, staring at the stars."

"You fell asleep and I couldn't wake you up. I've never tried to lift something so heavy." Joe pushed me, as we both laughed. "Watch it, these babies are drying." I picked up the bottle and started on the other hand.

"It seemed so long ago." He laid himself back, closing his eyes. "It was almost 4 years ago."

"Crazy stuff Joe." I mumbled, my eyes, concentrating on my nails instead of him. "You're going to get married in a month."

"Shit." He muttered. I looked up to see him rubbing his cheeks. I knew it was a panic thing with Joe so I smiled at him. "A month, Allie. A month and I'll be spending the rest of my life with her, with Rose."

"You sure will." I flashed my teeth at him, hopefully stopping all nervousness he had. "You're going to be wonderful together, you'll be happy and you'll be loved. You can't ask for anything better."

"Maybe some food, I'm hungry." I laughed at Joe's random comments before finishing my nails.

"Let me paint your toenails. It will take your mind off food."