I Knew Babysitting Paid, But It Finally Paid Off

-Kevin's POV-

It was six o'clock and we were all at the dining room table eating Pizza By Alex. I kept looking at Nick and Kristen. They were acting normal like they weren't just flirting behind Joe's back. Ah, Joe. How was I gonna break the news to him? I knew it wasn't going to go over good. Terribly awful at best. He had very strong feelings for this girl. Told me he'd never felt like this before. I just hoped he wouldn't end up breaking something. Like his hand from punching a wall. Or Nick's face.

A few hours later, Manda informed me she spoke to Nick.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"He denied it, naturally. I think you should go talk to Joe now."

I took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck. You're gonna need it."

I found Joe outside in one of the chairs by the fire pit.

"Hey Joe." I said anxiously.

"Hey Kevin. What's up?"

"I gotta talk to you. Want to go for a walk?"

"Uh, sure."

He got up and we started walking towards the beach and the general store.

"What's up?" Joe said again, his hands in his pockets.

"Don't get overly upset okay?"

"Um, okay. Why would I get upset?"

"Its about Kristen."

Joe stopped walking and I turned to face him. He was staring at me, trying to read my face.

"Okay..."

"I overheard her and Nick..." I trailed off, looking at the ground. I didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes.

"Overheard them? What were they doing?" Joe's voice was strained, as if he was trying to hold back a strong emotion.

"Nick was using that voice. I'm sorry."

Joe had sunk to the ground, his knees against his chest. I knelt down next to him, only to be shoved away.

"Go away." He said, sounding like he had a bad head cold.

"Joe-"

"I said go away!"

-Joe's POV-

Nick was using that voice. Nick was using that voice. Nick was using that voice.

I couldn't get that stupid sentence out of my head. This girl was supposed to be different. She wasn't supposed to be like all the others who only wanted to get to my stupid, annoying, back-stabbing, girlfriend-stealing, no good brother.

I fell so hard for this girl and I fell flat on my face.

I felt numb. Except for the throbbing stabbing pain where my heart was supposed to be.

I had no idea tears were even streaming down my face until I looked at the knees of me jeans to find them soaked.

I looked around me. It was pitch-black outside. How long had I been out here? But the bigger question was how the hell was I going to go back there and face the girl who broke my heart?

Just play it cool, Joe. Play it cool for now. See if she tells you, see if she's being eaten alive from guilt.

I checked the time on my iPhone. 11:37 pm. Damn. I was out here for a while. I wiped my eyes and erased all the evidence that I had been crying my eyes out.

I walked back to the cottage to see her sitting alone, staring into the fire. She turned when she heard me approaching.

"Hey. Where were you?" She asked, her eyes burning into mine.

"Just went for a walk." I said sitting down next to her. "Where is everybody?"

"Bed. Everyone was tired, but I stayed up to wait for you." She smiled, apparently under the impression I wanted her there.

I stood up and held out my hand.

"Wanna go to bed? I'm pretty tired myself." I said. Yeah, from crying my eyes out.

She took my hand and we went inside to our room.

I guess she wasn't gonna tell me. That meant I could only do one thing, even though it might be the biggest mistake I would ever make.