careless

chapter seven : the morning after

[ brooklyn, new york ; joe's apartment ; saturday ; 10:25 a.m. ]

Joe's POV

I woke up the next morning holding Demi in my arms. I couldn't think of a better way to wake up in the morning than holding someone you love more than anything in the entire world. Sappy as it sounds, it's true. Thinking about how much I loved her caused me to smile to myself as I lay in bed, still completely naked from last night. Which caused me to do some more thinking. Part of me still couldn't believe that happened. For months I was constantly interrupted by the thought of Ryan killing me with no regret, every single time I tried anything with Demi. No matter how much I cared about her and how much I wanted to, I knew it wasn't right at the time. I kept seeing Ryan's disapproving death glare in my head, causing me to back out, leaving Demi usually frustrated. But now I can finally sleep with my girlfriend without her brother's face popping into my head. As weird and demented as that sounds.

I shook that creepy thought off and started to stroke Demi's bare back with my hand, to slowly wake her up.

"Mmm." She groaned as she adjusted herself a little bit.

"Come on, Dems. It's almost 10:30. We gotta get out of bed." I chuckled as I pushed some hair behind her ear. I saw her smile to herself, slowly opening her eyes to look at me.

"Says who?" She joked as she placed her hand on my bare chest.

"Says me. Come on, I'll go make some coffee." I started to say as I tried to get up from the bed. But I immediately felt Demi's hand pull me back into bed. "Dems!" I chuckled as I smiled at her. She sat up, holding the sheet to cover her body, and smiled.

"Joe, there's no real reason for us to get up and be productive today. You don't have work, and I don't have to be anywhere. So what's the harm in just lying in bed for a little while longer?" She said as she batted her very convincing eyes at me. I smiled at her, shaking my head as I laughed a little. I sighed and laid back down next to Demi.

"You really want to just lay here all day?" I asked her, still smiling.

"Mhmm." She smiled as she cuddled up to me once again.

"Alright, If that's what you want." I chuckled at her as I pulled her close to me and kissed her head.

[ 2 hours later ]

"When did you know?" Demi blurted out as she pulled away from the kiss we were just having.

"When did I know what?" I asked a little curious and confused.

"When did you know that you felt something more than just being a friend to me?" She asked as she looked at me, cupping my face.

"I don't know, Dems." I said with a slight chuckle. She moved her hands from cupping my face to placing them around my neck.

"Come on, I know it didn't just pop in your head one day. There had to be one moment that persuaded you." She said with a smile. I chuckled again and thought to myself for a second.

"I don't know. I mean, honestly, I think I always felt something towards you." I admitted. "But, I was scared."

"That I wouldn't feel the same way?" She said with a slight frown, as she leaned her forehead against mine.

"Partly." I admitted somberly.

"But was there a certain moment? You know, when you finally realized I was more than just Ryan's little sister?" She asked without any hesitation. The first moment that popped into my head was what was brought up that night when Penn walked in on Demi and I in the bathroom at Missy's party. I put off telling Demi the truth about it for long enough, so I decided to finally tell her about that night.