Underneath The Mistletoe-JB (DONE)

2

Seeing Joe tonight and having that awkward dinner with him was something you didn't think would happen at all this holiday season. You knew he had made it big in the NFL, even going to the super bowl once in his career so far. You definitely didn't think you'd catch him in Athens whatsoever, especially since it was the middle of football season and he lived almost an hour away in Cincy. Seeing him again brought back all the memories, all the good ones until you remembered he pretty much ghosted you once he made it to LSU. You two stood there awkwardly in front of everyone not knowing what to say. He looked very different yet the exact same. "Why don't we go in for some Hot Cocoa, it's really cold out here and I think we could all use the treat." Pops suggests breaking the ice. "Jimmy and I were just about to head to a family dinner but Joe, you should stay and catch up with Y/N and Junior." Robin suggests patting his shoulder. "Oh um- Yeah, come on in." Junior nods. "You kids catch up, have fun." Jimmy smiles giving Joe a pat on the shoulder as he remained quiet, and so did you. Junior broke the ice though, thankfully. Other than you, Junior was the other one who was pretty close to Joe when we grew up. Eddie and Trey were a bit younger than us so they weren't always aloud to ride around with us for safety reasons. Junior and Joe spark up a conversation as you all head back in the house to warm up and finally decorate the tree. 

You felt really anxious being around Joe and you needed your best friends Jay and Sammi right now. Sammi is going to obviously spend her holidays with her fiancé and their families back in New Hampshire but you made a mental note of facetiming the both of them later tonight and tell them about all this. They knew about Joe so they were going to want hear this. Hanging your coats up you make your way over to the Christmas tree trying to ease your nerves. "Extra peppermint and marshmallows?" Pops asks you as the guys sit on the couch and you kneel down next to the box of ornaments. "Please!" You smile at him. "You guys better not spoil your dinners." Nana points to us. "I'm making meatloaf and pumpkin pie for dessert." She winks. "Oh, that sounds great but I can't stay for dinner. I have to get back to Cincinnati before 8PM." Joe shakes his head as he looks at his phone for the time. "Well good thing the food is already being made and there's no snow on the ground so you can speed." Nana says and You scoff. "Nana!" You look at her in disbelief that she would suggest such a thing. "Mind ya!" She says walking into the kitchen. leaving you there in shock. 

"She... really doesn't change." Joe chuckles. "She's gotten worse I'd say." Junior says making you guys laugh. "Sorry about her., you don't have to stay if you don't really want to." You mutter feeling a tad bit embarrassed she acted that way towards Joe. "You don't have to apologize, I've missed the crazy things your grandparents say. I can spare a few hours for them." Joe smiles at you and you give him one back feeling a weird tension. You start with the lights on the tree and your mom and Mark come back inside from the front porch. You were wondering where they had went. "Everything okay?" You ask them, seeing that your mom looked very upset which wasn't like her at all. "Ashlie." Mark sighs giving you a look of annoyance as they head for the kitchen. "I'll... go see what's going on." Junior says to you and Joe. In your head you practically scream for him not to go and leave you alone in the living room with Joe knowing how awkward this was for the both of you. 

Junior leaves you two and you decided to occupy yourself with the lights for now. You plug them into the nearby electrical socket to see if they worked and you start to wrap the lights around the tree. "So, uh- how have you been?" Joe asks sitting awkwardly on the couch fiddling with his thumbs. "Good. You?" You ask still focusing on the lights. You were perfecting the lights on the right side of the tree when the other side fell off. "I got it!" Joe jumps up to his feet to help. "But, I've been good. Working hard to get us to the super bowl but it's looking a bit meh." Joe sighs, clearly seeming stressed with his career at the moment. "That's cool." You nod still not bothering to look at him and reach for more lights being that this tree was super tall and full. "Look Y/N, I should really apologize for the way I acted with you." Joe says and you finally look up at him hearing those words. The lights were illuminating his face in such a warm beautiful way that almost made you into putty.