Give It a Chance for Our Love to Start

"If we talk," Joe said, sitting up. "Then it has to be just you and me. No Tinsley. No Nick. No world. Just you and me. Can you handle that?"

I nodded, sitting in front of him on the bed. "Just you and me," I agreed.

He looked at me, smiling slightly as he waited for me to begin. But I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to start. He sighed. "Are you going to start or should I?" I motioned for him to start. "Okay. Bethany, I love you. I love you more than anything. Not her."

"Until the other day in the studio, you loved her more than anything," I said quietly. "For over ten years, you've loved her. How can that just be changed?"

"Do you remember a few years ago," he asked, his eyes boring into mine. "When we started touring and stuff, and I was feeling homesick?"

I nodded, smiling slightly. "You said you didn't want to leave home."

"Do you remember what you said to me," he asked.

I shrugged. "I said, um – home –"

"Home is where your heart is," he said quietly. "You said that I loved my brothers, and my family. I loved what we did every night on that stage. I loved performing for millions of fans. And that because of that, I'd always –"

"Be home," I finished. "I remember."

"That was when I realized I was in love," he said.

"With Tinsley," I said quietly, looking down.

"No," his hand touched my cheek. "I fell in love with the girl that kept me from feeling homesick, the girl whose letters kept me thinking into the early hours of the morning, the girl who poured her heart into her emails, the girl who I knew without ever seeing. It could be ten years, or fifteen years or a hundred years. I could believe I loved her until the last minute. But that wouldn't change the fact Bethany. If I learned, even in my last second on this earth, that you were the one who wrote those letters, my love would have been yours. Because it was never hers Bethany. It was always yours."

"Joe—"

"Bethany, if you're going to say what I think you're going to say, don't," he whispered.

"But she loves you Joe," I said anyway. "How can I just go to her and say, oh now that you've finally found someone you actually love. Now give him to him. How can I tell her that?"

"Bethany," he put his hand on his cheek. "I love you. I know we aren't doing the smartest thing. But Kevin always says that—"

"You have to be dumb in love," I finished, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I got that speech too. Apparently, I'm dumb enough."

He smiled. "That sounds like a good thing," he said before leaning over and kissing me. His lips were soft against mine at first, as if seeing if I'd pull away. When I didn't, he deepened it, kissing me harder. "I love you," he whispered, pulling away slowly.

"I love you too," I said finally.

He grinned. "So we go back to tell everyone?"

I gulped. "G-g-go back? Can't we – stay here?"

He sighed. "Bethany—"

"Fine, fine," I rolled my eyes. "But you better get a bullet proof vest."

"Why are we going back so early," Nick asked for the millionth time as the plane started taking off. He and Kevin were sitting in the pair of seats behind us.

I laughed, winding my arm in Joe's tighter. "Joe only has the vest for a week."

Kevin and Nick exchanged a confused look. "It'll be a surprise," Joe grinned at them.

Kevin and Nick rolled their eyes. Joe turned to me. "I have something for you."

"Oh?"

He took out a small jewelry box. "Open it."

I saw a beautiful ring. It was silver with a diamond. I gasped. "What's this for?"

He grinned at me, taking my hand and putting it on. "My dad gave this to my mom after they were married. I told my mom that I would give this ring to the girl I was going to marry one day and bring her home. Then, she'd know who her daughter-in-law was going to be."

"Joe," I gasped, leaning over to kiss him. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

He grinned at me. "Anytime babe." He kissed me again.

"Ah, my virgin eyes," Nick cried behind us.

---

We got out of the taxi in front of our house, and froze. There were so many cars on our block. I noticed Tinsley's door was wide open. Slowly, we walked to their house. I gasped, stopping at the door. Everyone was dressed in black and everyone was quiet. I saw, in the living room, my parents, and Joe's parents, sitting around someone. I couldn't see them, but I knew who it was, why all these people were. As we entered, the whole house got even quieter, looking at us. Denise saw us, ad gasped, nudging the covered figure's knee.

Tinsley shot up, and ran towards us. Her face was covered in tears, her hair a mess, her demeanor broken. She ran right into Joe's arms, burying her head in his chest. Joe hugged her silently, his eyes on me. Nick put his hand on my back. Kevin put his on my shoulder. I pulled away from them, moving more towards the living room. I couldn't see Joe and Tinsley like that. My mom walked over to me, hugging me, crying. Over her shoulder, I saw his picture – Tinsley's dad. Everyone was facing it, crying. This was why everyone was here. This was why Tinsley was broken.

I pulled away from my mom as I saw Denise and Paul walking towards me. I took Joe's ring off, hoping Denise hadn't seen it yet.