A Flower in a Field of Weeds

Joe's Point of View
"I'll miss you, Joe!" Amity said and hugged me after she parted with Demi for the thousandth time. I laughed. "We still have the bus ride." I said. "You should sit with me."

She thought for a moment. "I'm going to sit in the seat next to you that way its a lot easier to talk to you because I won't have to turn in my sit. And Demi can sit with me and Kevin can sit with you and Sabrina and Keily can sit in front of me, David and Adrienne can sit in front of you and Selena can sit behind us and eat each other's faces." she said and giggled.

I laughed. "Sounds good." I replied and we got on the bus. Apparently, David didn't sit in the right seat. "David!" Amity whined. "You're messing up the seating arrangement. Keily and Sabrina are supposed to sit there. You sit there." she said and gestured to the seat over. He laughed, put up his hands in defense and moved to the other seat.

Amity smiled brightly. It was amazing how easily she could be made unhappy and how easy it was to make her happy again. She was overjoyed when things just fell into place.

"Crap." she muttered. "I can't get everyone in the picture from where I am sitting." She stood up on the moving bus and quickly shot a picture of us all when we weren't expecting. She sat down, looked at the camera and smiled. "Aw, my new friends in their natural environment!" she cried. I leaned over her shoulder to see the picture and I realized how completely in love with her I looked. I was just staring up at her. She didn't seem to notice, though, because she asked, "Aren't Selena and Nick so cute together?" and pointed to their still frames in the back of the picture. I nodded absent-mindedly. It really was a good picture.

Needless to say, it was a long bus ride when I was forced to keep myself from falling all over her. Demi and Amity exited the bus, though, and I threw my head back into the seat. "Just ask her out already." Kevin said. Maybe I will.

Amity's Point of View
"Tell me who they are, at least!" I begged my manager. She shook her head and laughed. "Honestly, I'm surprise you haven't figured it out yet. Three brothers. Jeesh." she replied. I rolled my eyes. Then, we reached the tour bus and I froze at the door. Ashley, my manager turned around. "Well, come on." she urged. I shook my head in panic and began to breathe heavily. What if they hate me? She laughed again. "Nervous?" she asked. I nodded. "Come on." she said and pulled me through the door.

Immediately, my nerves were calmed. "You!" I cried, pointing to Kevin, Nick and Joe. They all laughed. "You!" they mimicked. "Oh, this is even better than the Cribs!" I cried excitedly and engulfed Joe in a hug. "The Cribs?" Kevin asked. "The Cribs. Yes. The band.. You have no idea who I'm talking about. That's cool." I said and rolled my eyes. "So, now that I am here, I expect to be treated like one of the boys." I said.

Joe laughed. "Yeah, that'd be kind of hard." he said. "Why?" I asked, confused. "Well, let's see, you squeak often, you're voice is extremely feminine, your nails are painted.." he began. "You think things are cute." Nick piped in. "You have a stuffed animal sticking out of your bag.." Joe added.

"So he can breathe.." I said, defensively. "You think stuffed animals need to breathe, you smell like strawberries and flowers.." Joe said. "Daises." Kevin corrected.

"Okay. Okay. Just be nice to me, then." I said and pouted. "You pout." Joe continued. I smacked him in the back of the head. "Which bunk should I sleep in?" I asked, curiously. "You tilt your head to the side when you're confused." Joe added, smirking. I shot him a glare and he became silent.

Kevin laughed. "This one is yours." he said and pointed to the bottom bunk on the left. I smiled. "Yay! The bottom bunk!" I cried and jumped into it. "Goodnight, Jobros." I said and wrapped myself in the blanket. It had been a long day.

Joe's Point of View
I couldn't sleep with her so close and yet so far away. She was in the bunk across from me and, still, it seemed that she was too far away. I couldn't sleep with her on my mind. I walked to the back of the bus and began to write. I only wrote for a few minutes before I started to hear soft sobs coming through the curtain.

I walked out to see Amity sitting on her bed, her arms wrapped around her legs crying. "Amity? Are you alright?" I asked. Stupid question. Of course she isn't alright. She's crying. She looked up at me, wide-eyed and wiped away her tears. "Joe, I thought-" she began and looked over at my bunk. She stopped when she saw no one there. I sat down next to her. "What's wrong?" I asked, quietly.

"Nothing." she whispered. "I was just thinking about my dead puppy, Fluffy."

"Liar." I said, quietly.

Her eyes widened slightly. "How do you know?" she asked, hoarsely.

"Because. You are creative. You wouldn't name a puppy something so generic as 'puppy'." I replied.

She looked away. "Well, most people fall for it. But you are right. My first puppy was named 'Cat' and my second was named 'Norm'." she said.

"So, what's wrong?" I asked her again.

She sighed. "I'm fine. I don't want to bother you with my stupid-" she began.

"Amity, tell me what's wrong." I said and wrapped an arm around her.

She hesitated. "I really suck." she began and laughed slightly. "My last boyfriend was cheating on me, my boyfriend before that was abusive, before him, was a thief, before him was- Well, there are a lot of crappy people in the world and they seem to love dating me." she said. "I know its ridiculous to say I'm giving up on relationships because that's something thirteen year old girls say and never do but I am serious. I am completely done." Another tear escaped her eye and I wiped it away.

So, maybe I won't ask her out. Maybe we won't be dating. Although that hurt to know, I can still be a friend to her, right?

"Look, there are bad people out there but you aren't one of them. Its not you. You can't blame yourself for not knowing that they weren't good guys. Anyone would be happy to be with you. Not just the bad guys." I said. Yeah, I am not great with words. She smiled up at me. "Thanks, Joe." she said. "I wish I'd met you sooner. You are a great friend."

'You are a great friend.' Of course.