You Saved Me

Things went pretty smoothly after Joe dropped his 3rd sandwich into the lake and tried getting it out, causing him to tip the paddleboat and sending both himself and Brittany into the lake, along with the rest of the stuff in the picnic basket.

He claimed that’s why he told her to wear her swimsuit, and she was happy she did.

The elderly man seemed quite entertained when the two had to make their way off the boardwalk, shoes squeaking and soaking wet.

Luckily, Joe seemed prepared for an accident, those tend to happen to him a lot, and put two towels in the trunk.

Don’t stare, Don’t stare, Don’t stare…

Brittany had to tell herself when Joe took off his shirt to dry himself off and drive back to his house shirtless so he didn’t get the seat wet.

She also had to take her clothes off, but she wrapped her towel around her body so there was little to be seen.

They continued their game of 20 questions on the way back to his house.

Him telling her that when he was younger he used to make himself think that he was allergic to seafood.

“It was like a mental allergy.” he said, making Brittany tear up from her laughter.

On a more serious note, he told her that he missed New Jersey and wouldn’t mind going back there for a week, just re-live some past memories of his childhood town. She ended up telling him that she was claustrophobic, but not the reason behind it.

“I guess I’ll go home and change. Thanks for lunch Joe. It was…interesting.” she said with a laugh while giving him a hug.

You have to let go. Let go of him now. NOW!

She reluctantly let go of him, inhaling his scent as much as she could without it being noticeable and tried to hold herself upright when he gave her a little squeeze at the end, pressing his still shirtless body against hers even more.

“If you don’t mind waiting for me to change quick, could I come with you? You’ve been in my room before. And met my family. I’d like to meet your Uncle. Only if that’s ok though.” he said, grabbing the picnic basket from the trunk along with his and Brittany’s wet clothes.

“Yeah. That’s cool. I’m sure my Uncle wouldn’t mind meeting you. Considering I talk about you so much.” she said with a smile, but then looked away from him and mentally slapped herself in the head as soon as she realized what she just said.

“You…you talk about me?” he asked, clearly trying to hide the joy in his voice and failing miserably.

“Well duh! Cuz of the play.” she said quickly, trying to cover up her mistake, but then saw his smile fall a little bit.

“And the date talk too. Also, kicking your butt in tennis.” she added, bumping her hip into his, bringing a full smile to his face again from her comment.

“Cool. Just let me get changed real quick. I can drive if you want.”

“No. That’s ok. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m gonna take a shower when I get home, so I don’t smell like lake water. How about you shower and get changed and then come on over to my house?” she asked, re-wrapping her towel around her waist since it started to loosen a little bit.

“I don’t know where you live though.” he said bluntly.

“It’s called directions Joe…” she countered with a laugh.

He smiled at her laugh before saying, “I’m not too good with those. Just let me shower and change really quick. I promise, it’ll be…..25 minutes. Give or take. Then I’ll just follow you there?” he asked her in a hopeful tone, causing her to look away from his face for a few seconds to contemplate.

“Fine..” she sighed out, having a small smile come across her lips when he jumped up excitedly and hugged her before taking off towards his house to get ready.

She followed behind him, laughing slightly from how excited he got over the littlest things.

Shouldn’t he be afraid of the guy that is my guardian? Isn’t that normal? Like the boyfriend is supposed to be afraid of the dad…wait a minute, did I just call Joe my boyfriend? HOLY CRAP! Did I just call Bobby my DAD?! NO! He’s not my dad. He’s….not my dad. And Joe is not my boyfriend! No Dad! No Boyfriend!

“What’s wrong? And why are you half dressed?” she heard a slightly familiar voice ask her when she entered the house.

She hadn’t even realized she did.

“What?” she asked, getting fully taken away from her thoughts to see Kevin standing there giving her a suspicious look.

“Sorry. Joe and I kinda fell into the lake. And, now that I think about it, he took my clothes upstairs with him.” she said with a nervous laugh, bringing it to her attention even more that she was standing in Joe’s house half naked and talking to his older brother.

“Did you want me to go get you something to wear? Like a t-shirt or something? I think Joe might have some sweatpants you could borrow, although they may not fit.”

She contemplated on whether or not she would rather wear a pair of his sweatpants or a towel while sitting in his house.

“Sweatpants would be great. Thanks. He won’t be mad though, will he?” she asked, slightly worried that he might be upset at her or his brother.

“Joe? Get mad over clothes? No. Nick’s the one you have to worry about…” Kevin said with a slight laugh as he made his way upstairs.

Within a few minutes, Kevin was back, gray sweatpants in hand and handed them to her.

She muttered a thanks as she took them and swiftly pulled them on, having to pull the drawstring with as much force as she could muster to get them to stay on her hips.

“So, you seemed a little….gone, when you first came in. Everything ok? Joe didn’t poison you with his cooking skills did he?” Kevin asked, making his way past her towards the living room and taking a seat on the couch, ushering her over in the process.

“ No.” she answered with a laugh. “You’re mom made the food, and I think your dad did too. I was just thinking about some stuff before.” she said taking a seat at the opposite end of the couch and folding up the towel she had previously been wearing.

She didn’t know if he wanted her to sit next to him or keep her distance, but he didn’t seem to be upset about where she sat. He merely turned on the couch, bending one of his legs having his knee hit the back of the couch while his other leg was placed on the floor.

“About what? If you don’t mind me asking?” he asked her, looking at her with curious eyes and a small smile to try and let her know that if she didn’t want to talk about it, it was fine.

“Just…some stuff.” she said with a quick glance towards the stairs.

“Joe?” he asked, lowering his voice as if they were telling each other a secret.

She looked at him a little taken aback at the fact that he barely knew her and already knew what she was thinking. At least, she didn’t think it was obvious that she was thinking about him.

“How did you-?” she asked slowly but he held up one of his hands, a smirk coming across his face before he said, “I could tell. You really like him don’t you?”

“I guess. I mean, I don’t know. I never really had any experience with guys before and…I don’t know. It’s complicated.” she finished her rambling, looking down in her lap and playing with the corners of the towel.

“Complicated? How? I mean yeah, he’s a complex person, but the situation, I don’t think so. I think since you both like each other that it should be fairly easy.”

“He…he likes me?” she asked quietly, eyes glued towards the towel now since she felt herself blushing like crazy from hearing Kevin say that.

He let out a soft chuckle before answering.

“If you haven’t noticed. Yeah. Just a little bit. You should’ve seen him yesterday when we got home and he told everyone that you and him were going out today. I don’t think I’ve seen him that excited since the day you stayed for dinner. But don’t let him know that I’m telling you this. He’d probably put glue in my hair products again if he found out.”

“Again? And I promise not to tell him as long as you don’t tell him that….I like him.” she said with a shy smile.

“Yeah. I hid his beloved tambourine one time and he flipped out on me when I pulled it out from under his pillow. Never touch Joe’s tambourine. Ever!” he said with a light laugh.

“ALMOST READY!” the two of them heard Joe yell from upstairs.

“Going somewhere else?” Kevin asked, smirk present on his face again with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah. He wants to meet my....I don't want to lie to him, even though it wouldn't be a big lie but still. Bobby. Which, if you don’t mind me asking, don’t you find it kinda weird that he wants to meet my father figure?” she asked again, yelling at herself mentally for using that type of title on Bobby previously.

“Ha. It’s Joe. Nothing is weird anymore for me when it comes to him. Once you lived with him for, oh I don’t know, his whole life, you get kinda used to it. Although, he does always find a way to surprise you when you least expect it.” he said, giving her a pat on the shoulder as he made his way up and out of the living room.

“Where are you going?” she asked, a little to earnestly.

“KEV! CAN YOU COME HELP ME? I NEED YOUR OPINION ON SOMETHING!”

“It’s like clockwork.” Kevin said while shaking his head with a smile. “Give him another 5 minutes. He’ll be ready then.” he said, and started walking the stairs.

Brittany shot him a smile and looked away from the stairs, letting her eyes wander around the living, but jumped slightly when she heard Kevin say, “Oh! And since we’re being honest with each other about Joe…”

She looked up at him confused, letting him know to continue.

“Don’t hurt him. He’s been threw a lot of bad relationships and I don’t know how many more he can take.” he finished before fully disappearing.

Trust me, it’s not my intention on hurting him. If I had it my way I wouldn’t even be here. I’d be at home with my mom and dad and we’d be playing Candyland at the antique wooden dining room table.

She quietly laughed nervously a little bit from hearing that and then turned her attention back towards the living room, trying to find anything to take her mind off of Kevin’s last comment.

From looking around it for more than a couple seconds, she took notice for the first time all the picture frames hanging on the walls.

Guess you don’t see that when your running around with a couch cushion tied to your back…

She got up from the couch, leaving the towel there, to look at the pictures of all four boys growing up. Well, they were all still growing up, but the pictures were of Kevin, Joe and Nick randomly doing things inside or outside and a few with Frankie.

She laughed at looking at them, easily figuring out which was which from the past to now, and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness in the pit of her stomach.

She closed her eyes and saw pictures of her parents before her, smiling brightly and waving at her from when she went through her photographer stage.

She could almost hear them laughing at her from when she used to tell them which way to stand, when daddy should kiss mommy on the cheek, when her mom should turn around a smile at her so she could capture the moment.

“All ready to go!” Joe’s triumphant voice brought her memories to a halt and she spun around to see him in dressed in black skinny pants with a gray button down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

[i[Don’t attack him! Don’t stare…stop staring. And shut your mouth, you might be drooling now!

“Cool.” she breathed out, jerking her head away from him to concentrate on her breathing and walking.

He held the door open for her and as he shut his door behind them she heard Kevin faintly yell, “Have fun you two!”

“I like my sweatpants on you. They look good.” he said with a slight laugh, not paying attention to Kevin’s words.

“Your brother gave them to me to wear since I was just wearing a towel.”

“No. It’s cool. I don’t care. Like I said, they look good on you.” he said, taking an extra stride to stand next to her now instead of behind her.

“So, I’ll just follow you to your house then?” he asked, sending her a smile that literally made her heart stop for a brief second.

“Yep. See ya there.” she said, jogging off to her truck that was parked against the curb that was in front of his house, happy to be able to breath fresh air that didn’t consist of his amazing cologne that was capturing her senses.

What the hell am I getting myself into? What hell is he doing to me? I need to end this…now! This is crazy. Just smelling him makes me crazy. That’s not normal. At least not for me. You can do this Britt. Just…don’t breathe when he’s next to you….I need help!

* * * * *

“Who’s this lovely lady?” Joe asked, bending down to look at a picture that was enclosed in a metal picture frame, sitting on her night stand that was up against her bed.

Her ‘Uncle’ Bobby wasn’t home, sending a whole new wave of nervousness through Brittany. Joe was actually upset that he couldn’t meet him.

“That’s my mom.” Brittany said, turning to look to see which picture he was looking at while putting in small hoop earrings.

“She’s really pretty. Runs in the family.” he stated while turning his head to look at Brittany who was now fluffing her hair to give it a little bit more volume while trying to hide her blush that was creeping up onto her cheeks.

“Thanks.” she managed to whisper out, knowing that Joe couldn’t hear it, or at least not well, and then turned to him and asked him what he wanted to do.

She saw his eyes widen quickly while he mouthed a “Woah” before answering her.

“Umm...yeah…sounds good.”

“What?” she laughed out from his answer as she made her way towards her bed and took a seat next to him.

“Huh?” he asked, his eyes following her every movement, making his head turn to look at her as she sat down next to him.

“Stop it will ya. You’re freaking me out now!” she said, slapping him playfully in the arm.

“Sorry. You just….you look….Wow.” he finally stuttered out.

“Again, thanks. But it’s just skirt Joe.” she said with slight laughter but then panic set in as she asked, “Wait? Is this too much for a party? Should I change? I’ve nev-”

“NO! You look…really….you look great.” he said, nodding his head and getting up from the bed to take a better look around her room at the all the other pictures.

“So, what did you want to do?” she asked, getting up from her bed, now being able to control herself after her small panic attack.

“Honestly?” he asked, turning back to look at her quickly before bringing his attention back to a picture that had her father and mother in it. Her father standing by the grill cooking burgers, donned in an apron that said, ’I’m the Burger King.’ while her mother was leaning towards him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“I want to know more about you.” he answered after a couple silent seconds.

“What else is there to know about me Joe?” she asked him back with laughter, covering up her nerves. “You’ve already asked me a million questions today. I don’t think there’s anything more you don’t know about me.”

She sat back down on her bed, leaning up against her wall that her bed was shoved up against as she stared at him, slowly making his way around her room, stopping for a few minutes to study the pictures before moving onto the next one.

“That’s not true. I asked you like a thousand today. And besides, those were common knowledge ones. I want in depth answers now. Ya know, really get to know you. The real Brittany. I mean, Trisha.” he corrected himself, shaking his head in doing so.

You had it right the first time…

“Ok. Ask away I guess. I’ll try and give you what you want.” she said, hoping that it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to tell him the truth without having to throw in some lies at the same time to keep herself safe.

And then it began. Questions like, out of all the places she lived, which was her favorite and why. Where was her favorite vacation too. What she missed the most about her parents….that was a tough one. What her favorite band was. What she wanted to be when she got older and still wants to be. How old was she when she got her ears pierced and why did she want to. How many past relationships she’s had, which luckily she didn’t have a long list of a dating record. It was actually non-existent until now.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?! You? Not have at least one ex boyfriend. I’m sorry, but that’s absurd!” Joe said out loud while laying down on her bed, his legs over hers that were dangling off of the edge.

“Why is that so crazy for you to comprehend? I never really liked anyone enough to actually have them be a boyfriend of mine. Or at least consider them one.” she responded, laughing somewhat as she lightly smacked his leg from his unbelieving tone.

“Oh come on! You’re 17 years old and never had romantic feelings for someone?!” he asked back, laughing from her hit and bringing his arms up to tuck under his head since he stopped playing with the bottom of his shirt.

“Well I do. Did!” she quickly corrected herself and continued when she saw Joe’s face light up. “But I was so young it doesn’t even matter.”

“Of course it matters. If you had feelings, it matters. And who do you like now?” he said, getting up into a sitting position so fast, Brittany barely saw it.

“I didn’t say I liked anyone now. I said did, as in past tense.” she said, bringing up one of her hands and started to chew on her thumb nail out of nervousness.

“No you didn’t. You said do. As in present test. Now spill!” he commanded, devilish smirk coming across his face as he leaned closer to her to try and get her to crack.

She continued to chew crazily on her thumb nail, staring into his eyes that were filled with excitement from her recent slip.

She let out a sigh, and watched as his smile seemed to grow, and pulled her thumb nail away from her face to answer him.

“His name was Johnny Thomas and it was in the 2nd grade, so I was like 5 or 6 at the time. So again, it doesn’t matter. Plus, every girl in school liked him.”

“That’s not what I’m looking for. Tell me now. Or else!” he said, leaning up onto his knees to be a taller than her.

“Or what? You’ll throw me into a lake again?” she asked out laughing and she barely had time to get up and run when he tackled her, tickling her like crazy.

“No! I’ll tickle it out of you! Tell me!”

“Never!” she laughed out through her squirming, which was really hard to do in a skirt.

“Tell me now!”

“Trisha?! Are you ok?” she heard a panicked voice and footsteps coming quickly up to her room.

Joe practically jumped off of her and booked it to the opposite side of the room before Bobby was in the doorway.

“I’m fine. Joe was just tickling me for information.” she said with a laugh, seeing Joe’s panicked face that was staring at Bobby.

“Oh. Well, I know I didn’t talk about this before as one of the rules, but here’s a new one to tack on to the list. No boys in your room unless I say it’s ok.”

“Sorry. It won’t happen again. He actually wanted to meet you. That’s why he’s here.” she said, getting up from her bed and straightening out her skirt and shirt before going over to Joe and grabbing his arm to drag him towards her doorway to introduce them.

“Joe, this is Bobby. Bobby, this is Joe. The boy I’ve been telling you about…” she said with a smile and couldn’t help but smile wider when they shook hands and said hello to each other and launched into conversation.

* * * * *

“Have fun you two! And Joe, come back anytime. Really. We’ll have dinner or something…” Bobby called out from the front door as the two made their way to Joe’s car.

It was already 9:30. Joe and Bobby wouldn’t shut up about anything. They got along as if they were long lost father and son or something. The only thing Brittany was able to contribute to the conversation was uh-huh, yeah, and head nodding since they dominated it.

She was able to ask, during a lull, if it would be ok for her to sleep over at Steph’s. Having remembered that she asked her earlier to spend the night. And allowing her to leave the room for a good 20 minutes to take her time on packing for her night over there.

“Thanks Mr. Tanner. And I will come back over, as long as it’s ok with Trisha.” he called back with a smile and wave.

Bobby just smiled back at him before giving a final wave and shutting the door behind him.

“Your Uncle is really nice.” Joe said, finally looking Brittany’s way as they walked towards the vehicles.

“Yeah. I’m surprised how well you two got along.” she said with a laugh and reached for her truck door, but Joe caught her hand and said her, “You can ride with me if you want.”

“I don’t know Joe. I’m sleeping over there tonight. How would I get home if you drove me?”

“I’ll just spend the night. No biggie.” he said, shrugging his shoulders and leading her towards his passenger side door and opening it for her.

“Are you sure your parents will let you? I mean, no offense or anything, but they just don’t seem like the kinda parents who would let you sleep over at a girls house. With no parents around.” Brittany said, standing in front of the opening to the car.

“So I lie a little bit…it’s not like anything’s going happen anyways. Steph’s pretty responsible. It’s not like there’s gonna be an insane amount of people and drugs and stuff. It’ll be fine.” he said while pushing down on her shoulder a little bit to get her to take a seat inside the car.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble Joe. Won’t they ask to talk to a parent or something?”

“Crap…you’re right. Let me think really quick.” he said, putting a finger to his lip and tapping it a couple of times before a smile came across his face.

“You’ll just be a mom.”

“Absolutely not Joe. Your parents like me. And I want to keep it that way. I’m not gonna help you lie.” she said getting up from the seat in the car, but Joe pushed her back down and said, “Fine. I’ll just make Steph do it when we get to her house. Miss 'I can’t tell a lie'.”

Ha! I can’t tell a lie?! I’ve been doing it my whole life…I think I know how to tell a lie Mister.

“Whatever. I’m not going to look down on you if you do. But I won’t help you lie to your parents.” she said, moving her feet to the inside of the vehicle.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.” he said with a smile as he shut her door and then swiftly made his way towards the drivers side.

“You know how to get to Steph’s right?” Brittany asked as Joe started the car.

“Of course. I’ve only gone to school with her for the last 4 years.” he said with a laugh and backing out of her driveway.

“On and off though.” Brittany reminded him with a smirk.

“Regardless, I know where she lives. I’m still trying to get Kevin and her hooked up. She likes him ya know?” he said with a smirk as he started his way towards Steph’s house.

“What? Really? She never told me that except maybe once.” Brittany said shocked, turning in her seat to get a better look at Joe from her excitement of the new information she just heard about her ’Best Friend’.

“Yeah. He keeps saying she’s too young for him though. But whatever…I know he likes her. He’s just….weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t want to hurt her that’s all. And he knows he probably will if they were to start dating because of what we do.”

“Oh yeah. That’s right.” Brittany said, nodding her head. “You’re famous.”

It got silent between them for a few minutes until Joe started to laugh somewhat under his breath, making Brittany turn to look at him with a confused face and ask him what was so funny.

“Just…thinking of your scream when you fell into the lake.”

“Ha ha.” she said sarcastically and turned her head away from him to look out the window.

A smile slowly made its way onto her face, thinking about how well their ‘date’ went today and the fact that she was going to be able to spend the whole night with him.

Maybe I’ll get that kiss after all….