Sequel: On and On ›
The Good Life
Chapter 16
The next day at the studio I did my usual, answered phones, paper work, blah blah. Joe, his brothers, his parents, all of the producers, and the band had been shoved in the large conference room at the end of the hall since we had got here this morning. It was getting close to five and I was ready to leave I walked to the end of the hall and looked through the small window on the door trying to spot Joe, I found him and smiled to myself but he was looking down at the table grabbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Kevin noticed me and nudged his elbow into Joe’s side, he looked over to him annoyed and Kevin nodded towards the door, Joe locked his eyes on mine and the smallest of smiles carved onto his face, he looked drained, stressed, like he didn’t want to be there.
I gave him a sympathetic look and tapped my wristwatch silently asking him if he was ready to go. He looked at everyone around the table and rolled his eyes telling me he wasn’t able to leave and then nodded his head towards Kevin and mouthed ‘He’ll drop me off.’ I nodded in understanding and mouthed, ‘I love you.’ He smiled at me and opened his mouth but Mr. Nottingham slapped his hand on the table a few times causing Joe to snap his attention away from me. I frowned and turned to leave. I climbed in the car and felt my phone buzzing in my pocket I took it out, ‘1 New Message: Joe’ I smiled and opened it, ‘Sorry about that, I love you too :).’
I stopped at the Whole Foods on the way home and grabbed a few things, I wanted to make Joe dinner, he seemed like he had a bad day and I wanted him to relax. I got home and poured shredded lettuce into a bowl and cut up tomatoes and cucumbers and poured dressing over the top. I layered noodles and meat sauce and four kinds of cheese in a dish and stuck it in the oven and I heard a car pull up and looked out the window to see Kevin’s Jeep in the driveway and Joe climbing out. I sat on a stool at the bar and waited for him to come inside, I heard the door shut and him drop his keys on the table by the door and kick his shoes off, then he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, he gave me a weak smile and I stood up and went to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, he brought his arms up and laid them around my shoulders and rested his chin on my head.
“Bad day?” I asked him. “Yeaaaah” he said more like a sigh instead of using his full voice. “Aww.” I cooed rubbing my hands up and down his back, “I made dinner…”
“I know.” I could here the smile in his voice, “It smells amazing.” I could hear him sniffing the air, and chuckled into his chest, “Lasagna?” he asked. I pulled back, but he kept his grip on me, I looked at him, “How’d you know?” I asked still laughing. “Well, my dear, if there’s one thing I do know, its food.” He said matter-of-factly. I nodded, “Good to know, it’ll be ready in about thirty minutes.” He pulled me back to him in a tight embrace like he didn’t want to let me go, “Good.” He said and then led me to the couch and fell backwards onto it pulling me on top of him and wrapping his arms around me letting out a sigh. I buried my head under his chin, “Was your day really that bad?” I felt him nod his head ‘yes’ from above me and he softly spoke, “I just need you right now.” He tightened his arms around me and I lifted my head to look into his eyes that held a pained expression, “Joe, I’ll always be here, what’s the matter?” I asked while running my fingers over his forehead, pushing his hair back, I was beginning to worry about him. “I just don’t want to talk about it right now.” I laid my head back down and shut my eyes, “Okay.”
We laid there for a long time just holding onto each other and then I heard the timer go off in the kitchen, I tried to get up but his arms wouldn’t budge, “Joe.” I looked up to see that he was asleep. I lightly moved my arms to my back and loosened his grip from around me and pushed myself off of him. I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the counter and grabbed two plates from the cabinet and served each of us some salad and a square of lasagna. I set the plates on the table and poured each of us a glass of Gatorade from the jugs of it we always kept in the refrigerator, Orange for Joe and Strawberry for me.
I walked in the living room to find Joe still asleep, I knelt down and rubbed my fingers along his cheek, “Joe.” I whispered, his hand reached up and grabbed mine and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, “Hmm?”
“Dinner’s ready.” He swung his legs over and set them on the floor and then sat up, I stood and started walking towards the kitchen but his arms grabbed me and he wrapped his arms around me laying them over my backside and he rested his head on my stomach, “What Joe?” I asked giggling and running my hands through his hair, “Nothing, I just love you.” He said. I bent my knees and crouched down in front of him and looked up at him. “I love you too.”
Then I picked up my head and kissed him for the first time since this morning, I massaged his bottom lip in between my lips and lightly sucked on it, he slowly slipped his tongue into my mouth, it wasn’t forceful or demanding from either one of us, the kisses were long and slow and meaningful, it wasn’t a ‘hot’ kiss, it was romantic, full of passion. My hands lay on his knees and his fingers were interlocked behind my neck so he could tilt my head to either side to remain in control of the kiss. I don’t know how long we stayed that way but my knees ached, my thighs burned, and the balls of my feet were numb from balancing myself in the position I was in. At one point, we pulled away and I kept my eyes closed and lips slightly ajar, I felt his grip loosen around my neck and slide down my arms to lay on top of my hands that still rested on his knees. I finally opened my eyes to meet his warm brown ones, “Wow…” I breathed out. “That was—amazing.” No doubt, it was the best kiss we had ever shared; all of our love was poured into it.
He smiled and ran his finger along my jaw line, “Mmhmm.” I heard his stomach growl and let out a small laugh, “Let’s eat.” He stood and grabbed my hands helping me to my feet due to my stiff knees. I walked, well limped, to the kitchen and to the table to find our lasagna was cold. Okay so we got a little distracted for…I turned and looked at the clock, an hour, oh shit, I smiled to myself, well, I’m not complaining.
After dinner, We turned out all the lights downstairs and grabbed a movie to watch in bed. I walked into the bathroom as Joe began to peel his clothes off, I washed my face and brushed my teeth and walked into the bedroom to change while Joe walked in I heard him brushing his teeth while I pulled on a white tank top and some Victoria’s Secret Pink sleep shorts. I popped in the movie, Awake, and climbed into the bed. The bathroom light turned off and Joe climbed in next to me.
We watched half of the movie when the screen froze, I looked over at Joe to find him staring at me, “What?” He turned on his side to match the position I was in and slipped one of his legs in between mine and one on top of mine. “Kayden—” He looked scared. He was scaring me. “Joe, what? What’s the matter?” He linked our fingers in between the two of us and took a deep breath. “In the meeting today, we decided when we’re going to release the album.” I nodded, Okay—”
He gulped, “It’s July 1.” I nodded for him to go on. “So that means on July 10, we’re um, we’re going to have to go, um…” He couldn’t get the words out, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and remembered what Uncle Tripp had told me five months ago, the tour. It dawned on me and I wanted to throw up, Joe still hadn’t said anything so I whispered, “the tour.” He nodded, “How long?” I asked closing my eyes, dreading the answer. “It should only be a little over to months.” I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and felt my lip quivering; Joe gave my hand a squeeze, “Kayden, baby, look at me.” I opened my eyes and looked at his neck. “Look at me.” He said again a little louder. I forced my eyes to his and the tears started to come, I wouldn’t be able to do this is a month. He wouldn’t be next to me, he’d be on the bus or in a concert, I cried for a while, he held me tight to his bare chest and my tears covered his perfect body.
I pulled back and looked at him again, the pain in his eyes that I had seen earlier was now mixed with sadness, and now I knew why, everything was making sense now. The tears were still streaming down my face, “Kayden.” He whispered. I looked up to see a single tear falling down his face, “We’re going to be alright, I promise because I love you so much, and I know we can get through this.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I know, I just, I-I I’m just going to miss you so much.” I said looking away. “I know, Kay, I know.” He said. I began crying again and Joe pulled me close and hummed into my ear stroking my back.
I woke up the next morning and smelt coffee it was only seven thirty we didn’t have to be at the studio until ten. I walked down stairs and found Joe spooning muffin batter into a muffin pan with a wooden spoon and swaying his hips to the iPod buds places in his ears, I could hear the beat but I couldn’t hear the words, I pulled myself onto the kitchen table and watched him in amusement. He stuck the pan in the oven and brought the spoon to his mouth and began to sing in it and spun around doing a Michael Jackson move when he spotted me and stopped dead. I waved at him, ‘hi’ I mouthed. He pulled the buds out of his ear, “I was just, uhh…” He sputtered “Mmhmm.” I laughed. He held his finger up to me and fished his iPod out his pocket and plugged it into the iHome sitting on the counter and restarted the song turning it up all the way.
I heard the beginning intro to Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together.’ He cocked his eyebrow and brought the spoon to his mouth and started singing,
“IIIIIII, I’m so in love with you” he sang while pointing to me, I pointed to myself questioningly while he sang the next line;
“Whatever you want to do, is alright with meeee. Cause you make me feel so brand new.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me off the countertop and dipped me,
“And I want to spend my life with you.” I was cracking up. Joe threw the spoon into the sink and kept singing to me, “Me sayin' since, baby, since we've been together Oh, loving you forever Is what I need.” He spun me around and pulled me back to him, I couldn’t stop my laughter but he stayed as serious as can be singing the rest of the chorus;
“Let me, be the one you come running to, I'll never be untrue, Oh baby, Let's… let's stay together, Loving you whether… whether; Times are good or bad, happy or sad,” He sang out, thrusting his hips around when he sang the last line, he finally let his laughter out and we let the song continue and we danced around the kitchen without a care in the world.
I gave him a sympathetic look and tapped my wristwatch silently asking him if he was ready to go. He looked at everyone around the table and rolled his eyes telling me he wasn’t able to leave and then nodded his head towards Kevin and mouthed ‘He’ll drop me off.’ I nodded in understanding and mouthed, ‘I love you.’ He smiled at me and opened his mouth but Mr. Nottingham slapped his hand on the table a few times causing Joe to snap his attention away from me. I frowned and turned to leave. I climbed in the car and felt my phone buzzing in my pocket I took it out, ‘1 New Message: Joe’ I smiled and opened it, ‘Sorry about that, I love you too :).’
I stopped at the Whole Foods on the way home and grabbed a few things, I wanted to make Joe dinner, he seemed like he had a bad day and I wanted him to relax. I got home and poured shredded lettuce into a bowl and cut up tomatoes and cucumbers and poured dressing over the top. I layered noodles and meat sauce and four kinds of cheese in a dish and stuck it in the oven and I heard a car pull up and looked out the window to see Kevin’s Jeep in the driveway and Joe climbing out. I sat on a stool at the bar and waited for him to come inside, I heard the door shut and him drop his keys on the table by the door and kick his shoes off, then he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, he gave me a weak smile and I stood up and went to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, he brought his arms up and laid them around my shoulders and rested his chin on my head.
“Bad day?” I asked him. “Yeaaaah” he said more like a sigh instead of using his full voice. “Aww.” I cooed rubbing my hands up and down his back, “I made dinner…”
“I know.” I could here the smile in his voice, “It smells amazing.” I could hear him sniffing the air, and chuckled into his chest, “Lasagna?” he asked. I pulled back, but he kept his grip on me, I looked at him, “How’d you know?” I asked still laughing. “Well, my dear, if there’s one thing I do know, its food.” He said matter-of-factly. I nodded, “Good to know, it’ll be ready in about thirty minutes.” He pulled me back to him in a tight embrace like he didn’t want to let me go, “Good.” He said and then led me to the couch and fell backwards onto it pulling me on top of him and wrapping his arms around me letting out a sigh. I buried my head under his chin, “Was your day really that bad?” I felt him nod his head ‘yes’ from above me and he softly spoke, “I just need you right now.” He tightened his arms around me and I lifted my head to look into his eyes that held a pained expression, “Joe, I’ll always be here, what’s the matter?” I asked while running my fingers over his forehead, pushing his hair back, I was beginning to worry about him. “I just don’t want to talk about it right now.” I laid my head back down and shut my eyes, “Okay.”
We laid there for a long time just holding onto each other and then I heard the timer go off in the kitchen, I tried to get up but his arms wouldn’t budge, “Joe.” I looked up to see that he was asleep. I lightly moved my arms to my back and loosened his grip from around me and pushed myself off of him. I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the counter and grabbed two plates from the cabinet and served each of us some salad and a square of lasagna. I set the plates on the table and poured each of us a glass of Gatorade from the jugs of it we always kept in the refrigerator, Orange for Joe and Strawberry for me.
I walked in the living room to find Joe still asleep, I knelt down and rubbed my fingers along his cheek, “Joe.” I whispered, his hand reached up and grabbed mine and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, “Hmm?”
“Dinner’s ready.” He swung his legs over and set them on the floor and then sat up, I stood and started walking towards the kitchen but his arms grabbed me and he wrapped his arms around me laying them over my backside and he rested his head on my stomach, “What Joe?” I asked giggling and running my hands through his hair, “Nothing, I just love you.” He said. I bent my knees and crouched down in front of him and looked up at him. “I love you too.”
Then I picked up my head and kissed him for the first time since this morning, I massaged his bottom lip in between my lips and lightly sucked on it, he slowly slipped his tongue into my mouth, it wasn’t forceful or demanding from either one of us, the kisses were long and slow and meaningful, it wasn’t a ‘hot’ kiss, it was romantic, full of passion. My hands lay on his knees and his fingers were interlocked behind my neck so he could tilt my head to either side to remain in control of the kiss. I don’t know how long we stayed that way but my knees ached, my thighs burned, and the balls of my feet were numb from balancing myself in the position I was in. At one point, we pulled away and I kept my eyes closed and lips slightly ajar, I felt his grip loosen around my neck and slide down my arms to lay on top of my hands that still rested on his knees. I finally opened my eyes to meet his warm brown ones, “Wow…” I breathed out. “That was—amazing.” No doubt, it was the best kiss we had ever shared; all of our love was poured into it.
He smiled and ran his finger along my jaw line, “Mmhmm.” I heard his stomach growl and let out a small laugh, “Let’s eat.” He stood and grabbed my hands helping me to my feet due to my stiff knees. I walked, well limped, to the kitchen and to the table to find our lasagna was cold. Okay so we got a little distracted for…I turned and looked at the clock, an hour, oh shit, I smiled to myself, well, I’m not complaining.
After dinner, We turned out all the lights downstairs and grabbed a movie to watch in bed. I walked into the bathroom as Joe began to peel his clothes off, I washed my face and brushed my teeth and walked into the bedroom to change while Joe walked in I heard him brushing his teeth while I pulled on a white tank top and some Victoria’s Secret Pink sleep shorts. I popped in the movie, Awake, and climbed into the bed. The bathroom light turned off and Joe climbed in next to me.
We watched half of the movie when the screen froze, I looked over at Joe to find him staring at me, “What?” He turned on his side to match the position I was in and slipped one of his legs in between mine and one on top of mine. “Kayden—” He looked scared. He was scaring me. “Joe, what? What’s the matter?” He linked our fingers in between the two of us and took a deep breath. “In the meeting today, we decided when we’re going to release the album.” I nodded, Okay—”
He gulped, “It’s July 1.” I nodded for him to go on. “So that means on July 10, we’re um, we’re going to have to go, um…” He couldn’t get the words out, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and remembered what Uncle Tripp had told me five months ago, the tour. It dawned on me and I wanted to throw up, Joe still hadn’t said anything so I whispered, “the tour.” He nodded, “How long?” I asked closing my eyes, dreading the answer. “It should only be a little over to months.” I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and felt my lip quivering; Joe gave my hand a squeeze, “Kayden, baby, look at me.” I opened my eyes and looked at his neck. “Look at me.” He said again a little louder. I forced my eyes to his and the tears started to come, I wouldn’t be able to do this is a month. He wouldn’t be next to me, he’d be on the bus or in a concert, I cried for a while, he held me tight to his bare chest and my tears covered his perfect body.
I pulled back and looked at him again, the pain in his eyes that I had seen earlier was now mixed with sadness, and now I knew why, everything was making sense now. The tears were still streaming down my face, “Kayden.” He whispered. I looked up to see a single tear falling down his face, “We’re going to be alright, I promise because I love you so much, and I know we can get through this.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I know, I just, I-I I’m just going to miss you so much.” I said looking away. “I know, Kay, I know.” He said. I began crying again and Joe pulled me close and hummed into my ear stroking my back.
I woke up the next morning and smelt coffee it was only seven thirty we didn’t have to be at the studio until ten. I walked down stairs and found Joe spooning muffin batter into a muffin pan with a wooden spoon and swaying his hips to the iPod buds places in his ears, I could hear the beat but I couldn’t hear the words, I pulled myself onto the kitchen table and watched him in amusement. He stuck the pan in the oven and brought the spoon to his mouth and began to sing in it and spun around doing a Michael Jackson move when he spotted me and stopped dead. I waved at him, ‘hi’ I mouthed. He pulled the buds out of his ear, “I was just, uhh…” He sputtered “Mmhmm.” I laughed. He held his finger up to me and fished his iPod out his pocket and plugged it into the iHome sitting on the counter and restarted the song turning it up all the way.
I heard the beginning intro to Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together.’ He cocked his eyebrow and brought the spoon to his mouth and started singing,
“IIIIIII, I’m so in love with you” he sang while pointing to me, I pointed to myself questioningly while he sang the next line;
“Whatever you want to do, is alright with meeee. Cause you make me feel so brand new.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me off the countertop and dipped me,
“And I want to spend my life with you.” I was cracking up. Joe threw the spoon into the sink and kept singing to me, “Me sayin' since, baby, since we've been together Oh, loving you forever Is what I need.” He spun me around and pulled me back to him, I couldn’t stop my laughter but he stayed as serious as can be singing the rest of the chorus;
“Let me, be the one you come running to, I'll never be untrue, Oh baby, Let's… let's stay together, Loving you whether… whether; Times are good or bad, happy or sad,” He sang out, thrusting his hips around when he sang the last line, he finally let his laughter out and we let the song continue and we danced around the kitchen without a care in the world.