“I was thinking I would come down Thursday if you weren't busy,” Travis told Melissa, sitting in his hotel room in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had all of Thursday off and had to fly back to catch the show in Raleigh. He'd spent a lot of time on the phone with his girlfriend when he could, trying to find a time to go to Orlando. They'd talked about her coming back on the tour, but since school had started, Melissa was determined to stick with it.
“Thursday?” Melissa said, surprised. She was happy that he'd be coming, having missed him. She looked at her room that was halfway clean, save for needing laundry done and papers put away, her desk covered in her books. “What time? I have my College Algebra class, but I'm free the rest of the time. Even have off work.”
“Earliest flight puts me there around ten in the morning, then I fly out around midnight. That'll give us time to visit,” he said, a smile coming to his face.
“Sounds good. If I can't come get you, I'll send my friend Rachel.”
Travis nodded, having heard about her friend a few times. “Sounds good. We'll go paint the town red.”
“Sounds like a plan,” her phone beeped and she looked, seeing it was Joey. Glancing at the clock, Melissa realized that it was time for him to help her with her math. “I hate to run Trav, but my math tutor's here,” she blanched at the little white lie, but didn't feel too bad. She and Joey kept it strictly education related.
“Alright, smart girl. Love you.”
Melissa replied in turn and quickly went to the other line. “Joey?” she said, hoping she hadn't missed him.
“I could have got up and went pee, got a Coke and came back to the table before you answered the phone,” Joey chided, a smile in his voice, looking at the paper with the math on it he'd done.
“Oh shut up, Fatoney. It takes you longer than that... Why do I even know that?” Melissa mentally slapped herself. It was so easy with Joey to talk about the stupid stuff. The funny things that no one else cared about.
“I don't know. Why the hell do you know that? How long it takes me to pee... Are you writing a damn stalker book?” He asked, watching Lance shake his head as he walked by to sit in the recliner.
“They don't know, do they?”JC said as he laid on the couch, listening to the conversation shift to something about math. This was almost the only time Joey acted like, well, Joey.
“Nope,” Lance said as he took a drink from his soda. He ignored the glare he was getting from Joey, pretending to watch the television that was in the corner playing low on a news channel.
'What are we talking about that who doesn't know?” Justin asks flopping down on the couch. JC was quick to move his legs and sit up, shooting his younger band member a look.
“Joey and Mel,” Lance told Justin, his eyes not leaving the tv.
Justin nodded knowingly. He grinned at Joey still on the phone. “They're never gonna figure it out, dawg.”
“Nope,” JC and Lance said in unison.
Joey cut his eyes at his friends, grabbing the paper and going to the front of the bus to sit at the other table. “All you do is find the inverse function,” he explained listening to Melissa work it out, with him coaching her.
Melissa looked down at her paper, sighing. They were halfway done, but it had taken an hour. “This sucks, Joey.”
“I want to go to college. I want to take math classes and English....” Joey's voice mimicked hers. “I told you..It's school.”
“I can do the rest of school. It's just math that I hate. When am I ever going to use the inverse of something? I can add and subtract and all that other stuff. That's why we have calculators with lots of buttons.”
“Oh ye of little math comprehension...all will be well. The Force is strong with you,” Joey said, getting a laugh from her. “I think you pretty much have it's ass whipped. I need to get off here and help JC with a song. He's writing something for the next album.”
“Alright,” Melissa was about to say goodbye before she remembered. “I'll be busy Thursday, so I'll just have to wing it on the homework. Er..no..there's a test..no homework,” she told him, putting her pencil in her book and closing it, wanting to shove it off the bed.
“Busy? You got a date or something?” he asked quickly, wondering why he even cared.
“Actually, yeah. Travis is coming to visit for the day after classes.”
Joey swallowed hard, the color in his world going back to a grayish one. It had never mattered to him before who Mel dated, it shouldn't now. He was better than this. “Yeah..have fun. I need to go, JC wants us to go over some stuff,” he told her, hanging up quickly. Kristen was coming in that weekend, and he was looking forward to seeing his girlfriend.
“Have fun?” Chris asked Joey as he sat down, raising an eyebrow at his silence. “Sounded like you were fine to me a minute ago.”
“I'm fine. Just get on with whatever we're doing,” he muttered as Justin and JC started talking about a song they were working on. Joey shoved his feelings deep and got into work, glad for the distraction. Until Monday.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
“So, Rachel's gonna pick you up in the morning,” Melissa told her boyfriend, laying back on the bed. She'd worked part of the day and then had been studying her math. Or trying to study it, getting frustrated and getting a headache. “I might be done with my test by ten, but it'll take me twenty five minutes to get back home.”
“Not a problem, baby. Have I told you again I'm excited to be seeing you?”
Melissa smiled at his words, looking at her clean room. “Yeah, I'm excited too. Rachel even made me pick out a couple of outfits for our date tomorrow,” she rolled her eyes at that, preferring to be in something comfortable. Not the cute dress her friend insisted she wear. Mel had put her foot down to get sandals and not heels, but had agreed to doing her make up a bit more dramatic instead of just the foundation and some bit of blush.
“You'll look gorgeous no matter what,” Travis told her, walking backstage. He'd had a few minutes before they had to start tearing down things, so he thought he'd call and get the last minute details. “I'm being told to hurry up, Mel. I gotta get to work,” he said, smiling at one of the backup dancers as he passed to get to the stage area.
“You men and your work. See you tomorrow Trav. Love ya,” she said, letting him go. Melissa stared at her phone a minute, sighing. She would be up for a while and tried to get focused, praying that tomorrow would be a good day.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“You must be Travis,” Rachel said to the guy who raised up a hand in greeting to her. She gave him a smile as he shouldered his carryon and introduced himself, shaking her hand. “I'm Rachel Weatherly.”
Travis nodded, until the name sank in. “Weatherly? Like related to the oil tycoon Weatherly's?” he asked, his voice changing to awe and his eyebrows raised.
Rachel bit her inner cheek, giving him a smile and nodding. She'd be nice for her friend's sake, but that was strike one. Yes, her grandfather was loaded, her parents loaded, but she still had to work for things and put on her big girl pants like everyone else. “Yeah. Grandpa's living the dream,” she told him, leading her out to her car.
“So how's the tour going?” she asked him after he put his stuff in the trunk, unlocking the doors and getting in.
“Be glad to have a break in a month. Going to try and convince my girlfriend to come up to Minnesota to visit for Thanksgiving.”
“Ha!” Rachel laughed out loud, then looked at him apologetically. “Sorry...I'm sure she'll try, but Thanksgiving is hallowed ground for the Bass family. You get invited to their shindig. It's like getting invited to the Playboy Mansion for the pool party.”
“Oh, okay,” Travis said, not sure he liked being rebuffed, or what he'd heard about a big family gathering. He and Melissa had talked about all sorts of things and this had never come up. “We can talk about it, though..”
Rachel and Travis made small talk as she drove them towards Lance and Melissa's house, neither one of them sure about the other.
“Mel said she had a test today,” Travis said, looking at his phone to see if his girlfriend had texted, wishing she would.
“Yeah, an Algebra test. She felt good about it so we'll see,” Rachel replied, getting to the gated entry and punching in numbers to get into the neighborhood.
“From what she told me, her tutor must be good.”
Rachel nodded, pointing out houses as they drove past them to different people. She wasn't going to touch that issue with a ten thousand foot pole. “Here we are,” she told him, getting out and letting him in. Rachel watched as he went into the house and looked around, grabbing a Pepsi out of the fridge.
“This is nice,” Travis said, sitting down on the couch. “Doesn't Mel get bored being here by herself?”
“Nah, I'm here a lot. The guys are over a lot when they're all home. Joey practically lives...lived here,” she amended, turning her head to close her eyes and mouth 'shit'. She couldn't go back and tell him anything different, so Rachel let it play out.
Travis blinked a couple times. This was new information to him and he just shrugged. He knew Melissa and Joey were close, so why wouldn't they hang out. Before anything else could be said, Melissa came in the house, a huge smile on her face. Travis got up, pulling her into a hug and kissing her on the lips a few times. “Hey, baby,” he said, grinning, putting what he'd just found out at the back of his mind.
“Hey yourself,” Melissa told him, leaning on him and sighing happily. “I see Rachel doesn't have you staked to a tree in the yard, so that's good...” she teased, sticking her tongue out at her best friend. “Thanks for picking him up, Rach.”
“You know me, always happy to help,” Rachel sang out as she said her goodbyes. “How was the test?” she asked before she got out the door, not missing the fact that Travis looked her up and down. Strike two.
Melissa turned around so she could look at her friend, grinning. “I made almost a B. Got a 78%..but my homework was an A. I got mixed up on a couple things.”
“You rock. Have fun you two,” Rachel told them, smiling as she left, her mouth in a tight line when she got in her car. There was just something about Travis she didn't like, but she was trying hard to spin it. She didn't know him like her best friend did and she hoped that was just the case.
Melissa leaned in and kissed Travis again, deepening it now that they were alone. “I missed you,” she told him, letting the touches of mouths and hands wander a bit before she pulled away, still smiling.
“I missed you too,” he said, letting her go and following her to her bedroom. He was surprised to see the artwork and pictures, looking at them as she told him who was in the pictures, mostly family, some of the guys. There was one picture of her and Joey, Travis noted, stuck to her mirror. A silly one that looked like it was taken a while back. Joey was holding up a shirt that said 'Got Crabs?' while Melissa was holding up her steamed crab legs, pointing at it while they both grinned. “Rachel said Joey had his own room or something...” he said, missing the panic look on her face.
“Uh..yeah, he used to,” she said, glad she'd filled the two drawers with clothes from another drawer. “What do you want to do while you're here?” she changed the subject, hoping it would work.
“I wanted to take you out on a date,” Travis told her, not minding the subject change at all.
**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“You're sure you don't want to go somewhere nice?” Travis asked once more as he carried the basket of food, looking around at the park they were at. “I mean, that's the point of a date, go somewhere you usually wouldn't.” The ominous clouds that had started gathering made him frown.
“I thought the point of a date was to have fun spending time together.” Melissa was uncomfortable in her dress, but was glad for the sandals, getting out the food.
“It is, but you picked a hell of a time to decide you wanted to do this.”
Melissa didn't say anything, frowning a bit. “The weather said cloudy but the rain was going to go around us.”
Travis just nodded, sighing. They'd gotten halfway done, when the first raindrops fell. “Shit!” he exclaimed, gathering up the stuff and tossing it in the bags they'd brought it in, running for the car.
The downpour soaked them both before they could get in, and Melissa sat there, dripping water, her clothes stuck to her, water running off her hair. “S..S...Sorry,” she said, starting the car, trying to shake off the sudden chill.
“Let's just go back to your house for now,” Travis said, watching the rain came down.
The radio was on low and Melissa's mind went back to the last time she was in the rain. It was a very different situation, one that brought a small smile to her face as they drove in silence.
“We can't do this,” Melissa said, laughing at Joey standing in the rain just outside of the rooftop of the barn. “We'll get soaked getting back to the house.”
“Your grandma's gonna be pissed if we miss dinner, Mel. Besides, it was your idea to come out and look at the old barn,” Joey said, his clothes starting to stick to him. They'd been close enough on tour to stop to visit, with Lance and Mel's grandmother not taking a no for them to stay for dinner. The rest of the guys had went back to the house before the sudden summer storm hit. “You aren't afraid of a little rain, are you?” he teased, watching her glare at him.
“Kiss my ass,” Melissa told him, stepping out into the weather. She laughed when Joey grabbed her and started dancing. “What are you doing, Fatone?”
“I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a wonderful feeling I'm happy again,” he sang, his baritone voice loud even with the sound of the rain coming down.
Melissa shook her head at him as they made their way to the house, laughing harder at the looks on everyone's faces when they got in the door, standing on the rug dripping wet, Joey still singing.
The light changed and Melissa shook her head at herself, the shower now over and the sun peeking out. “What do you want to go do now?” she asked Travis, hoping his mood was improved as they pulled into the driveway.
“Let's go change clothes and find a nice place to go to,” he said, “what I wanted to do in the first place.”
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Melissa smiled at Travis, slipping her fingers in his. Their second attempt at dinner had went well. Travis was the attentive romantic guy she remembered, having a wonderful time. Now they were back at the house, sitting on the couch watching television. There was still a few hours before she had to take him back to the airport.
“You know you look good dressed up,” Travis told her, leaning in to kiss her. He made his intentions known as he slipped his tongue in her mouth, one of his hands copping a feel. They'd been sitting close together, a touch here or kiss there.
“Trav, I don't know...” Melissa started, then was cut off by his mouth again. Her mind was telling her this was a bad idea, while her body was willing her on, wanting to be paid attention to. She told herself this was because she was in love with Travis, that they hadn't seen each other in a while and that they were alone. No one knocking on a hotel door. She broke off the kiss and smiled at him. “Let's take this somewhere more comfortable,” she said, getting up and leading him back to her bedroom.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Rachel flipped her phone open and shut, her mind in a dilemma. She didn't want to open her mouth and say something that wasn't possibly true, but at the same time she didn't like Travis. Sure, he was cute and Mel seemed happy with him and they'd been dating a while. He just had the underlying karma of 'assclown' she didn't like. Hitting send on her phone, she smiled big when Melissa's brother answered the phone.
“How can you let your sister date a jerk?” she said, after telling Lance hello.
“You think everyone's a jerk, Rach. What did he do?” he asked, standing in the dressing room. He listened to Rachel's recount of what had happened, and her reasonings behind it. “He's a good guy...” Lance finished, rubbing a hand through his hair.
“I'm throwing the bullshit flag on this.”
“You can't make Mel do what you want. You and I both know that.” Lance nodded to the guy telling him he had to be in the makeup chair in five minutes for the second show in Charlotte. “Just keep an eye on her.”
“Ten four, and I'll make sure to restock the Pepsi in your fridge,” she told him, hanging up a few minutes later. She bit her lip, wondering what would have to happen for Melissa to admit her feelings.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“I'll call you tomorrow,” Travis said, kissing his girlfriend, a big smile on his face. They'd had sex, laid there and talked until it was time to get dressed and get him back to the airport. Now they'd called boarding for his flight to Raleigh. “Did you have fun?” he asked, watching her nod.
“I had a lot of fun. I'm so glad you could come down,” Melissa told him, wrapping her arms around him. It was a comforting feeling, making her insides not knot up as much. “I love you, Travis.”
“Love you too, baby. I gotta go. I'll tell the guys you said hi,” he told her, giving her one last squeeze before letting her go.
Melissa watched him give the airline worker his ticket and then walk down the terminal. She bit her lip and sighed heavily, her feelings in a jumbled up mess. Her phone buzzed, reminding her that it was midnight and it was time for Travis to leave. She wondered if it was bad she was somewhat relieved he was gone.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
“Hey woman, I didn't hear from you.” Rachel picked up a shirt that was stuffed in a cubicle at Aeropostale and looked at it, watching Melissa fold them all neatly where ones had been unfolded and put away haphazardly.
“I went home after dropping Travis off and went to bed,” Melissa shrugged, “what's to tell?”
“Did you have fun?” Rachel asked, following her, shopping so that they could talk.
Melissa nodded. “Other than being caught in the rain. We had to go home and change, then went out to dinner at a nice place Travis found.”
“You're being very obtuse, Mel. Usually I can't get you to shut up about the stupid shit you've done with every detail. Please tell me you didn't have sex with him.”
Eying Rachel, Melissa just turned, ignoring her. “He's my boyfriend, Rach.”
“Oh. My. God. You did!” Rachel said loudly, making other people look at her. She grabbed Melissa's arm and drug her over to the corner. “I hate to sound like your mom, but what the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I was with my boyfriend and that he wanted to be with me like that. You don't have to like him, Lance doesn't have to like him...He's not Joey!” she hissed loudly, sticking her finger in Rachel's face before she could reply. “Don't meddle, Rach! If Joey wanted me, any at all, he would have said something long before now. He has a girlfriend and he and I are done being friends. Now would you please leave?” she said softer, trying hard to keep her composure.
“Oh Honey, you didn't have sex with him for that reason did you?" Rachel felt like flying to wherever the guys were and dragging Joey by the ear out behind a woodshed and beat the shit out of him. 'Fucking Moron,' she thought to herself. “Fine. You and Joey can just go be lonely and pining the rest of your lives because you're too stupid to see how you are with each other. I'll come over after you're done with work.”
“Go away, Rach,” Melissa told her friend, turning to ignore her and hang jeans on a rack by size. She heard footsteps fall away and stood there. She wasn't going to apologize for having Travis as a boyfriend, but she did regret the way she still felt about Joey. And that the whole time they were having sex, she was thinking of other things.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Joey smiled wide as his girlfriend got in the car beside him, leaving her bag for the airport attendant to put in the back, leaning in and kissing her. “I missed you Kris.” Yes, he'd missed her. Someone of the opposite sex that was glad to see him, and he noticed she purposely wore a low cut shirt, giving him a good view of her cleavage.
“Missed you too, Joey,” Kristen replied, leaning in to kiss him. “What are we doing tonight? You said you were free.”
Joey nodded as they took off back towards the hotel. “I figured we'd go back and chill for a little while, then go grab some dinner somewhere. There's a great place downtown, they have killer barbeque.” They'd stopped in Charleston, South Carolina, for a show the next night, then moving on further south to head towards Florida.
“Barbeque?” Kristen said, wrinkling her nose a little bit at him. “I was hoping for...something a bit better than that. I got a couple new outfits to wear. I don't want to get sauce on them. Besides, you can get barbeque anywhere.”
Joey looked out the window at the traffic, letting out an unheard sigh. He didn't want to dress up and go to someplace fancy. He wanted to relax, but Kristen was wanting more. He'd broken down and done laundry, actually paid to have it done, so he knew he had clothes clean. One night of a nice dinner wouldn't kill him. “Huh?” he asked, turning his head back when he heard his name again, looking at Kristen.
“Did you hear me? I asked if what's her name...Melanie..was here.”
“No. Melissa's not here. She went home for school and stuff,” he replied, getting irked at the fact Kristen would ask, still getting the name wrong.
“Like she got a job?” Kristen asked, surprised, missing Joey's jaw clenching as he nodded. “I mean, why would she need a job? You all make enough money...I mean, she doesn't have expensive tastes in stuff, you can tell by her clothes...”
“Are you done?” Joey snapped, trying to cover his feelings with a heavy sigh, running a hand over his face. “Sorry. I just..I wanted to talk about us, you know. Mel's not here..her own decision.” He let his eyes linger on Kristen's clothes and could picture what Mel would be wearing. Jeans and a t-shirt, probably some tennis shoes, dressed a lot like he was. She wouldn't care to go eat barbeque, knowing next time she could choose where they'd go. He derailed that train of thought, wishing it would set on fire.
“Okay, sorry. I'm done..only talking about us now.”
Joey listened to her start on her family and what was going in in Pittsburgh, trying to enjoy her company. They got back to the hotel and he changed, into some cargo khaki's and a button down blue shirt, slipping on some different shoes and leaving his hat on the dresser of the hotel room. “Better?” he asked Kristen as he turned around, watching her look him up and down and nod, then say something about a belt and tucking his shirt in. “Yeah...be right back.”
Joey left and went over to Lance's room. He'd left his belts in Lance's stuff when they'd been tossing stuff in bags. He knocked on the door and was relieved when his friend opened it, his phone to his ear.
“No Rach, it's Joey,” Lance told her, letting him in and digging through his own stuff. “I am not telling him that. I'm not!”
“Telling me what?” Joey asked, putting his belt in his teeth and tucking in his shirt. With Rachel it could be anything.
“They slept together. I'm sure they've done it before he went to visit...” Lance told her, exasperated. His face changing to another emotion, one that Joey couldn't read. “Just leave it alone. We'll be home in a couple of weeks..Love you too.” Lance hung up the phone and threw it on the bed.
“What are you supposed to tell me?” Joey asked again, ignoring the jealous streak that went through him thinking about Melissa sleeping with another guy. He'd never slept with her, so it shouldn't matter to him. They were just friends..well, used to be anyways.
“Nothing. No one knows how to mind their own business,” Lance said, grabbing the remote. “You look nice..a little too nice to eat barbeque.”
“Let's just agree to not talk about it,” Joey told him. “Any of it.”
“Fine with me,” Lance said, giving Joey one more glance. He'd agree with Rachel to lock them in a closet together as soon as they got to Florida if he thought it would help, listening to his friend leave. He had his own issues, leaning back on the hotel pillows, intending not to get up and do anything.
*^*^*^*^^*
“What's wrong?” JC asked Joey, watching him hold his hand over his forehead and eyes. He blanched when Joey looked at him, his friend's eyes were bloodshot.
“Migraine from hell,” Joey muttered laying back on the couch. It was between sound check and performance. The drinks from last night, coupled with more when he and Kristen got back to the hotel and the long night and little sleep made the small headache/hangover turn into something worse as the day wore on. His girlfriend was still sleeping at the hotel, leaving him to deal with it himself. He'd taken four Aleve and then some Motrin, waiting for it to work.
“You better be ready to sing in a couple hours,” Lance said, coming in to sit beside Joey in a chair.
Joey just groaned in response, his arm across his face. He couldn't even think of the stage lights and dancing, the thought of even moving made him feel sick. “I want someone to rub my head,” he groaned in a muffled voice, knowing there was no one that would.
“Tough shit. You lost your hair sex,” Justin said as he came in and heard, making the other guys raise an eyebrow. “What? He looked like his hair got molested when he had it done. Had this stupid look on his face too.”
“It was fucking relaxing! Have you ever had it done?” Joey sniped, moving his arm and shooting Justin a dirty look. “It was just Mel rubbing my scalp.”
“Have Kristen do it. She's your girlfriend,” Chris told him, as if that was the simple solution to everything.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Joey sat up and groaned more. “Just give me an hour..I'm going to see our physician.” They had a doctor that traveled with them, in case of sprains and small things. Joey made his way down to where he was and twenty minutes later was feeling surprisingly better, although he'd never admit that he got a shot in the ass. The pain wasn't completely gone, but having sat in a dark room for that amount of time made him able to open his eyes and not feel like he was going to be sick.
Kristen showed up while Joey was changing for the first set of songs. She was dressed to kill, the pass hanging around her neck letting her into where they were. She was wearing a short skirt and a tank top, looking more like a teenager than a woman. “Hey, babe,” she ignored Justin rolling his eyes, sitting down next to Joey who was buttoning up his shirt over his t-shirt.
“Hey,” Joey said, leaning over to give her a kiss. Whatever perfume she was wearing made his head pound and he winced. “What are you wearing?” he asked, stepping away as the throbbing started over his eye.
“My perfume?” she asked, watching him nod, naming off the expensive brand. “Why?”
“My head's killing me, and that's not helping,” he said with a sigh, moving to the make up chair, telling the girl just to leave his hair alone instead of spiking it up.
“Did you take something?”
Joey clenched his jaw, trying not to get mad. She wasn't here when he had, so of course she would ask. “Yeah, took stuff.” It was going to be a long night. They all had their hands in for the NSYNC yell when the shot really kicked in. Joey just prayed it would work for the next two hours, at least long enough to get back on the bus.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“What do you mean we're not going out?” Kristen asked, putting her hands on her hips and sticking her lip out at Joey, watching him slip his shoes off and put them in his bunk. They still had a few hours until the bus left and everyone else was going to get something to eat.
“Let me rephrase that. I'm not going out. I've spent the whole time I was awake until two hours ago sick as a dog with a migraine. I was dizzy the whole performance and all I want to do is sleep, Kris. If you want to go out, by all means, have at it,” Joey told her, his voice having a bite to it.
“No, I'll just stay here,” she said, putting down her purse beside Joey. “Why are you acting like this?” Kristen was surprsied when he gave her a look and started muttering in Italian.
“Go eat with them. I don't want to see you right now. Just let me have a few hours to sleep,” Joey bit off his words, getting up long enough to give her a peck on the cheek and get her off the bus. He sighed when the curtain was pulled on the bunk, making it dark and the engine of the bus doing it's usual hum. He knew he was an ass when he didn't feel well. Joey laid there, groaning when he felt his phone buzz beside his head. He let it go to voicemail before he opened his phone and hit the button that would let him listen.
“Hey Joey, it's Mel,” he gave a small smile at the sound of her voice, “I meant to call you a couple days ago.. Made a 78 on the test and an A on the homework. Hope you're having a good weekend and...”she hesitated as if she was going to say more, but didn't. “Talk to you later..”
He'd said they weren't friends anymore, but he couldn't just forget. Joey knew he needed to apologize, but he wasn't sure how. And he wasn't sure if she'd let him. Melissa was stubborn about things when she got it set in her mind. Joey closed his eyes and his mind drifted off, letting his jealous monster out now that he was alone. He let it come out and swallow him, knowing the way his lips felt against hers, the fantasy of it taking over, his heart twisting that Travis would touch Melissa like that, even more than she'd let him.
Joey had it planned out as he laid there, half asleep, his head at a dull throb. He'd apologize. He'd beg if necessary, anything to get his best friend back to being his best friend again. Then when the time was right he'd tell her how he felt. It was the first time in six weeks that Joey actually saw a little color come back in his world.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hoping this works. Having probs updating on the site. Enjoy :)
Story Tags: joey
