ethereal [joe jonas]

chapter ten

i wake up the next day to the sound of joe's voice. the sunlight streaming through one of the windows as the bus rattles along tells me that it's way past the time i should have been awake, but luckily we have nothing on for today except the boy's concert, which was only much later at night. i've always been an early riser, but these past few days have had me staying up really late. yesterday, especially. 

i'd had a blast yesterday. i'd gotten some beautiful pictures, had an amazing dinner with my dad at a nice little restaurant and then came back to the tour bus where joe and i talked almost till four in the morning. "it's so damn cold here" joe sighs, and i can hear him moving around on his top bunk. "that's what you get for choosing the top bunk" i remind him. the top bunk is closer to the windows which are pretty high up, and the wind blows in at night. joe mumbles something inaudible and there's more rustling on top. "what are you even doing up there?" i ask, rubbing my eyes and reaching over for my water bottle. 

a few seconds later joe appears, holding his blanket in one hand and his pillow tightly tucked under each arm. he somehow manages to climb down the ladder with one hand full, and i shake my head in amusement as he jumps down the last two steps. "what on earth are you doing?" i ask. "can i join you?" i look at him in confusion for a good fifteen seconds before finally putting two and two together. "uh, the bed's pretty small. but sure" i say, moving over until i'm squished up against the wall. 

i watch as joe places his pillow next to mine and lies down. i don't know how to feel- it's strange being physically this close to him though i feel so comfortable around him, as a friend. of course we've hugged before- well, once, on the first day when i was a crying mess- but this felt different, in a good way. 

"it's so much warmer here" joe says as he tugs his blanket over his body. "mhm" i agree, not really knowing what else to say. another draft of wind blows over us, and beside me, i feel joe shiver. he snuggles up next to me, his head almost resting on my shoulder. i watch as his eyes start to close and although i'm slightly uncomfortable that i'm being pressed up against the side of the wall, i can't deny the butterflies i feel in my stomach when he mumbles something in his sleep and moves even closer, a smile on his lips as he fully rests his head on my shoulder. 

when joe wakes up about an hour later, he's in a horrible mood. he wakes up and immediately sits up, putting his head in his hands. "are you okay?" i ask as i look up from my phone. "i feel like my head is going to split into two." he says, looking at me for a second. "can you get me some panadol? it's in my bag."  

i wish i could make him feel better but i can hear in his voice how irritated and how much pain he's in, so i don't try to talk to him because i'm pretty sure it'll piss him off. "yeah, i'll get your meds" i tell him, standing up and going over to his bag. he didn't tell me which compartment of his bag he'd put his meds in, so i'm pretty much at a loss of where to look. i unzip the first and smallest pouch on his bag. "not that one!" he sounds exasperated. i look up to see him staring at me from his position on the bed. 

"third compartment." he snaps.

geez. if he was sam, i'd be pissed, but he's not my brother so i try my best to keep my cool. 

i get the medication and hand it to him, and he doesn't even say thank you before taking it from me. outside our shared room, josh is yelling at him to come and rehearse, and he drinks some water to get the pills down and stands up. "i'm coming!" he shouts, cursing on his way out. the door slams behind him. 

i'm a little taken aback; even though i knew it was a norm for people our age to throw vulgarities left and right, it just didn't occur to me that joe was one of them. i shake the thought from my mind and get back to my schoolwork. even though i'm slightly annoyed with joe, i let it go because i know he's already really stressed. from what he'd told me the past few nights of us talking, josh often made him rehearse by himself because he had trouble remembering all the words to the songs they had to perform.