burning red • joe burrow

005

the car came to a stop in front of a very nice house. it wasn't quite the ones you would see in beverly hills, but it was a very nice house.

tara got out of the car, along with jamar and joe, and she walked to the back to grab her suitcase.

"we got it." jamar said, pulling the suitcases out of the car two at a time.

once they grabbed all the suitcases, and tara convinced them to take one, they walked towards the front door.

a blonde girl opened it. she had soft features, she looked younger than she was. "hi," the blonde said giving tara a hugging. "i'm lily." she said with a smile.

"tara," she said. "it's nice to meet you lily."

"charlie and rory will be down in a minute." lily said.

"good to see you joe." lily said with a smile. joe nodded and smiled.

"how have you been jamar?" lily said hugging the boy, tara could instantly tell there was some sort of chemistry there. if only she could see her own.

"good, getting ready for training camp." jamar said. "what about you lily?"

"good." lily said. the other two girls joined them in the living room.

"hi," the brown haired girl said hugging her. "i'm charlie, with an e."

"nice to meet you, i'm tara." she said. charlie is tee's girlfriend, who tara had yet to meet.

"i'm rory," the girl said, also giving tara a hug. i guess this is a hugger household. "i've been dying to meet you. everything i've been told about you has been great."

"because joe would not shut up about you. like ever." charlie said with a laugh.

"okay," joe said, cheeks red with embarrassment. two others walked through the door.

"oh," one of the boys said, once he walked in. "are you tara?"

he walked over to charlie and gave her a kiss on her head. tara assumed that was tee. "yeah." tara said, giving the boy a handshake.

"i'm tee by the way." he said laughing at how he forgot to tell her his name. "joe talks a lot about you."

"i'm evan." he said extending his hand. tara took it and shook it.

"it's nice to meet you." tara said with a smile.

"well we were gonna go out to dinner if you wanted to come." tee said.

"it's okay, i gotta unpack my stuff still and i'm tired from the flight." tara said. "thank you though."

jamar, evan, tee, and joe left. charlie showed tara where her room was. she had her own bathroom, too.

"thank you, charlie." tara said. "for letting me stay here and everything, you don't even know me."

"i want to know you, you seem cool and joe likes you." charlie said. lily and rory have joined them now. they sat down on tara's bed.

"yeah," rory said. "we are gonna be great friends, like the golden girls or something."

"well," lily said. "tell us about yourself."

"uh," tara said. she really didn't know what to say. "there isn't much to tell."

"what about your parents?" lily asked.

"they passed away a couple of years ago in a car accident." tara said. she was taking her clothes out her suitcase.

"oh," rory said. "i'm so sorry."

"it's okay." tara said. "at least they are together."

"have you had any other boyfriends?" charlie asked.

"besides finn, no." tara said. she could tell they knew about finn and what he has done.

"you and joe aren't a thing?" lily said.

"what no?" tara said. "we're just friends, always have been."

"that's not the vibe i'm getting." rory said with a laugh.

"well, do you like joe? like have a crush on him or something?" charlie said.

"no," tara said shaking her head. "yeah, he's my best friend and i've known him forever. i like how he is always cracking a joke. and how he is a horrible dancer but dances anyways. and his smile is amazing. and his eyes are the brightest green i've ever seen."

as tara kept rabbling on and on about what she liked about joe, the three girls on her bed shared a knowing look.

"tara." charlie said, gaining tara's attention.

"oh." tara said. maybe she has finally figured out why her heart skips eight beats anytime she is around him. or how she instantly smiles when she sees his face. or why she feels that sting in her chest when he talks about a girl even if it is nothing.

tara butler is in love with joe burrow. and she has been since the day she met him.

"i like joe." tara said. she said it as if she couldn't quite believe it herself.

"we know hunny." lily said. "i think you just needed to figure that out."

"it doesn't matter." tara said shaking her head. he probably didn't feel the same way. "he's my best friend, he doesn't like me back."

the three girls didn't say anything after that. it wasn't their secret to tell. eventually, joe would confess to tara or the other way around. but for now, they had to watch the pages turn themselves.

• • •

the four girls watched a couple of movies together. mainly rom-coms. 10 things i hate about you, five feet apart which wasn't as happy, pitch perfect, and to all the boys i've loved before.

they had managed to finish an entire box of pizza and a big bowl of popcorn by the time they finished the movies.

tara felt like she finally had friends. although she had only met that today, she knew she liked them.

"okay, i'm gonna head to bed." tara said. "it's getting late."

tara went upstairs to her room, showered, did her skin care routine and lied down in bed.

she plugged her phone in and set in on the nightstand. she closed her eyes and thought about what jobs she could get.

maybe she could still be a barista. her mind kept wandering though, to joe.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

now they just need to admit it to
eachother

YALL ALREADY KNOW WHO I AM, ITS TOPHER AND I THINK OLIVIA