Hold On To Him | Jonas Brothers

Chapter 18

Joe's P.O.V.
When I wake, there's no one there. Frankie's usually up early, so I suspect he got up by himself. I get up myself and go back to my room to freshen up for the day. I take a quick shower, brush my teeth and get dressed.

Before walking downstairs to get some breakfast, I decide to make a quick stop first. I enter Nick's room to find him sound asleep. I grab a pillow from the foot of the bed. I hit him square in the face with the pillow. Hard. He shot upright in bed. Serves him right.

"OH JEEZ. What did you do that for??" He yells at me. I just look at him with my signature look. "Are you out of your mind??" He continues. I just keep staring at him until he's finished. When he does, I start. "Frankie." Is all I say. "What is with Frankie?" He asks me. Anger still present in his voice.

"Oh, you know. Frankie. Our little brother. The one that came to you last night for some comfort. That Frankie." I tell him. I can see the gears turning in his head. I can see the exact moment the realization starts to kick in. "Oh no." He says.

"Ooh yes. And you're not getting away with it that easily. What were you thinking? Don't you think we've put them through enough already?! I heard what you said to him. Every single word. It'd be a miracle if he ever forgives you for what you said to him. I know I wouldn't." I pause as I look at the tears that managed to enter his eyes.

"You better redeem yourself, because even I don't know what to think of you right now. You made him think the worst of himself. That you don't want him here. That we don't want him here. I get you were half asleep when you went off on him, but that doesn't excuse your actions or your words. Not even your levels, if that was what's going on last night."

"I know." He responds. "Check your levels. I'm going downstairs right now and I don't feel like seeing you right now, so you better steer clear of me this morning." He only nods in response. Probably not able to utter a word without breaking into sobs. Good.

"I'm sorry." He finally utters. "It's not me you should be saying that to." "No, I know." I shake my head and leave the room.

"Well you look all sunshine and rainbows this morning." Pippa notes when I take a seat at the table. I give her a glare and she laughs.

"What happened?" I let out a sigh. "It's Nick." She immediately grows concern. "It's not what you think. Frankie went to him last night and Nick completely blew up on him. So now Frankie thinks he's not wanted." I explain. "Oh, god." I give her a look, because mom would not appreciate His name being used in such way. "I think it's justified in this situation." She defends herself.

She freezes and slowly turns to me. "So, what did you do to Nick this morning?" She asks me.

I shrug with a laugh. "Hit him as hard as I could with a pillow, made sure to rub in Frankie's pain and told him I didn't want to see him this morning." She laughs. "That's not too bad."

"You're right. He deserved to get worse." She shakes her head with a laugh. "Only you Joe, only you."

"How is Frankie?" She suddenly asks. I shrug. "He was gone when I woke up this morning and I haven't seen him since.

"Alright. I'll make sure to check on him later." She says. "Yeah, I've stayed with him all night after that happened, but if anyone can get through to him these days it's you." She smiles smugly. "I know."

"Any plans for the day?" She asks me while steering the conversation to more casual topics.

"Not really. After the last couple of days and the short nights I figured I could just hang out here, maybe go outside for a bit." "Sounds wonderful."

"You got any plans?" I ask her. "Not really. I will check up on Frankie later, but otherwise like you I've got not so much to do. Maybe clean my room if I feel like it."

Our conversation dies down after that and we eat our breakfast in comfortable silence enjoying each other's company.

Soon there's a screaming match going on upstairs. Kevin is not here, so the only other ones in the house are Nick and Frankie. Our parents are out again. Not sure where they went this time though. Probably important. I've not had the chance yet to read the note they left. It's adorable how they are still leaving us notes every time they leave the house.

Pippa and I turn towards each other confused. This is not what I meant when I told Nick to redeem himself. I jump up from my chair and run towards the stairs, followed closely by Pippa.

When I get upstairs, Nick and Frankie are flying into each other's arms. Both are trying to get as much punches in as they possibly could.

"What the hell is going on here?" I quickly take authority over the situation. It might not have been the best solution to step into the middle of their fight, but I didn't know what else to do.

Once they are apart, Pippa quickly pulls Frankie back while I went off on Nick.

"What the hell are you thinking?? Is this what you do to make things right??" He cowers back, but he's not afraid enough to not open his mouth. "Why are you getting involved? You have no idea what's going on here!" I'm too angered with him to really digest what he said. He tries to get past me, but I push him back. Frankie quickly runs out of the room. Pippa frozen in place to respond.

"I'll only listen to you if you calm down." I order him. He takes a second to catch his breath. Okay, so now I'm getting scared if he really wants me to listen to him.

"You have no idea what I walked into here." He starts.