& it's all because you're by my side.

Thank you Rita for the darling banner! =D


“Oh my god,” Rita muttered from behind me.

My room had been stuffed full of purple and yellow balloons, each one having something scribbled across it, and each one being held down by a large Hershey’s kiss.

The two biggest, one being yellow and one being purple, were closest to Rita and me.

The big yellow one read “Happy Two-Month Anniversary Katy!” and the big purple one read “Happy Two-Month Anniversary Rita!”

We stared in awe at the balloons, reading the scribbles of the few that were closest to us.

We finally realized that the yellow ones were for me from Joe, and the purple ones were for her from Nick.

Since yellow was my favorite color and purple was hers.

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.” I read one of Rita’s balloons aloud. “That is so sweet.” I told Rita in awe.

Rita chuckled before reading one of my balloons out loud. “Camels have humps.” She turned to look at me, an odd look on her face. “And that is so Joe.”

I laughed before we ventured further into the room.

Most of the balloons from Joe were random and funny, like one that said ‘Victoria’s Secret called and they want their sexy lingerie back’, but there were actually a few sweet and romantic ones.

My favorite had to be 'You make my world go around.’

If I hadn’t of already decided that I was in love with him, I definitely was after this gesture.

“I think you need to tell him how you feel.” Rita told me as she was reading through her balloons.

“I can’t just tell Joe how I feel.” I responded in between my balloon reading. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way I do?”

“There are only two times that I want to be with you... Now and Forever.” Rita read from a yellow balloon. “Yeah, he’s totally not falling for you.” She added sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Sure, this is totally sweet and romantic…but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with me.”

I could’ve only imagined her rolling her eyes at my statement. “Why do you have to be so dang stubborn?”

“I am not being stubborn, I’m being realistic.” I spat back.

“Whatever you say.” She replied with an annoyed tone. “I think this is where the saying love is blind fits in. You’re totally blind to it.”

I let out a sigh and a roll of my eyes before focusing my attention back to my balloons.

Sure, I was in love with Joe, but there was no way he was in love with me.

--

After reading every single one of our balloons, Rita and I pulled out our cell phones to call our favorite guys.

I listened to ring after ring until I eventually heard Joe’s voicemail.

I was a little bummed that I wouldn’t get to talk to him, but his voicemail definitely made me chuckle.

“Yo, it’s Joe. Sorry I missed your call; I’m busy working on my zoo. I’ll give you a call back once I get my elephant crisis solved. Peace out.”

I waited for the beep before leaving a short message. “Hello Mr. Zoo Keeper. I just wanted to let you know that some crazy guy filled my room up with balloons and it was pretty cool. I’m truly amazed that he managed to get them into my room while he was all the way in Europe, but I absolutely adored them. And I think I adore the crazy guy that left them for me, too. Give me a call once your elephant crisis is worked out. Bye.”

I slid my phone closed with a smile on my face. Joe was so amazing.

He was a major dork, but I loved him no matter what.

Rita soon flipped her phone shut, a smile wide across her face.

“Did you get to talk to him?” I asked.

She nodded her head. “Yeah, but he was asleep, though. I kinda forgot about the time difference.”

“Oh yeah,” I replied, realization occurring. “No wonder Joe didn’t answer.”

Rita chuckled before glancing around the room at all the balloons.

“What are we going to do with all of them?” Her eyebrows were raised in question.

I let out a nervous laugh. “Uh, deflate them?”

So it began: mission deflate the balloons.

We spent the rest of the night chatting, eating Hershey’s kisses, and untying and deflating the balloons.

We were trying our hardest not to let the balloons pop so we could keep them, and we had actually done a good job of that. Not a single balloon popped.

And we ended up having a really good time.

We didn’t even need The Notebook, pizza, or ice cream to cheer us up.

--

Rita and I sat excitedly in the busy San Francisco airport. We were waiting for Nick and Joe’s plane to arrive.

My leg was shaking excitedly; I was dying to see him. It had been over two weeks since I had last seen him.

And it had been the longest two weeks of my life.

We had survived, though. Many thanks to our balloons and the Camp Rock and Burnin’ Up music video TV premieres.

Our patience was beginning to grow thin as we continued to wait, our excitement growing with each minute.

Luckily we were in the private part of the airport so the boys wouldn’t be mobbed by people once they arrived.

Well, except for by us…

Rita squealed once Joe and Nick finally came through the gate.

I don’t think Rita and I had ever moved so fast in our lives.

We jumped up and sprinted towards them, attacking them in a hug once we had reached them.

Joe wrapped his arms tightly around me, abandoning his carry-on bag to the floor.

“God, I missed you.” He told me into my neck.

I smiled, keeping my arms tightly around his neck. “I missed you, too.”

He loosened his grip on me just enough so he could plant his lips right onto mine. His lips were so soft and moist; I had missed them dearly. Two weeks without them fitting perfectly onto my lips was a long time, too long.

He reluctantly pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. “Next time, you are definitely coming with me.” He told me sternly, a grin playing across his lips.

I wiped that grin off of his face with another kiss. “Sounds good to me.” I told him after we parted.

He chuckled before lacing my hand in his. “I think we should get outta here.”

“Fine by me,” I told him as we turned to see if Rita and Nick were ready to go.

They stood next to each, a small gap in between them, keeping them from touching. They both looked excited and happy to see each other, but you could see the sexual tension.

They had hugged, showing a sign of affection, but I could tell they wanted nothing more than to kiss each other, and hold each other’s hand. But they couldn’t, because to the public eye, Nick Jonas was single.

And even though we were in the private area of the airport, I could see some cameras flashing in the distance. No doubt someone had recognized Joe and Nick, and Big Rob standing near us.

We proceeded towards the exit once we were all ready to get out of the airport. Luckily since Nick and Joe were guys, all they brought were their carry-on bags, with enough supplies to last them the night.

We were able to make it to the car pretty smoothly; there were just a few girls outside of the airport that recognized the boys, of course asking for an autograph and picture.

But we were all happy and relieved to make it to the car, especially Nick and Rita. They shared a soft kiss before snuggling together in the back row of the large Suburban.

I smiled to Joe before resting my head on his shoulder. I was so glad to have him back, by my side.

--

“Thank you for all the birthday presents,” I told Joe after we all had sat silence for about ten minutes.

It was one of those moments where all you needed was touch and presence; nothing needed to be said.

“You’re welcome.” He gave my hand a soft squeeze.

“I loved all the presents; the sunglasses were cute, the teddy bear was adorable, the purse is super stylish, the lotion smells really good, the chocolate was yummy, the roses were beautiful, and I of course loved the balloons.” I told him, all in one breath.

He chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed all of them.”

I smiled before removing my head from his shoulder and gave him a kiss.

“And there’s one more surprise for you tonight.” He gave me a soft smile.

“Cool fool.” I replied before placing my head back onto his shoulder.

“Oh, and thank you for the DVD’s. The Die Hard movies are some of my faves. Rita and I had a marathon.”

Joe let out a breath of laughter.

“Oh and Noodle loved the new leash and collar.” I added.

“Anything else?” He asked, amusement in his voice.

“Nah, I think that was it.” I replied, a smile on my lips.

Another silence fell over us, a comfortable one.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, indicating a new call or text.

I pulled the phone out to see a new text from Rita. I scrunched my face up in confusion as I opened the new text.

I rolled my eyes once I read what it said.

Tell him.

I shut my phone and put it back it to my pocket, receiving a scoff from Rita in the back seat.

I wanted to tell him, I really did. But I felt too embarrassed.

If he didn’t feel the same way about me, then I would’ve felt stupid admitting my feels to him.

It was just too risky.