Joe fixed his black dress shirt in the mirror, his wound was clean, his hair was washed and he had a new attitude. He was going to make it up to her. She had to have been upset, this afternoon she felt so different, he didn't realise how much his actions effected her. He was stupid, and if this cost them there perfect relationship he was going to kill himself, and then everyone in his store, even Ethan, who would probably find some reason to smile about it, positivity my ass.
He'd smile and laugh about it, then he'd kill Blythe, or just haunt her.. kill her then haunt her.
Joe laughed to himself about the thought before fixing his collar. Taking a breath and grabbing the flowers he picked up from the corner store. They were slightly wilted, but better then nothing, he'd even shaved, put on after shave. The swollen eye was much less swollen now, but a little yellow around the corners,'indicating a healing bruise. Luck was on his side, she'd forgiven him, otherwise she would have him over for dinner.. right?
'I'm so right for you Ella, I'm wrong' he thought.
Joe took one last breath i before looking around his apartment, Ella's underwear had been shoved in between his couch, and one of her bras was hanging on his bathroom door. Not to mention the hair tie he stole sitting on the sink, there was bits of her everywhere, and he loved it. He grabbed his phone, sending her a quick message before closing the door behind him. Seeing Paco in his usual spot.
"Hey Paco" Joe waved slightly, as well as he could with full hands.
"Hey Joe, going out?" He questioned, a book titled 'the three musketeers' on his lap, Joe had leant it to him, it was one of his favourites. His mother and Ron were fighting again, Joe could hear the muffled screams, if his apartment wasn't a Ella museum, he'd let him in. But Ron already thought Joe was some creepy murderer, so best not. He stopped, tilting his head slightly as he looked down at Paco,
"Hey, all for one?"
Paco looked up at him with a boyish grin as he hugged his book, "and one for all," he announced proudly.
"We'll talk later Paco!" He called out, clutching his flowers and heading downstairs. The pain in his leg has subsided for the most part thanks to the pain killers, so he was able to walk his way to her apartment. He remembered her apartment, and he remembered the old ladies apartment, he still had the small but heavy cat statue, it grew on him, he even gave it a name.. Evan. Seemed fitting.
Joe stared at her door for a while before turning back to face number eighteen, knocking on it lightly. He held the flowers up. Feeling slightly nervous. Love was in the air, she just had to see that, she had to see that he was perfect, better then Evan, he was the best not-yet-boyfriend she'd ever had, why wasn't she seeing it?
He heard faint shuffles from the otherwise of the door as it was opened. Giving her a smile, "hey that's my line," he said playfully back, "I got you some flowers, I know it's.. first datey kind of stuff, but.. I just want to forget about that, this.. this will be our redo," he smirked.
'Ella, your radiant, I can almost see your underwear under that dress, and it hugs you so well, and I'm hard, and I hope you don't notice because this isn't helping, and I think of Evan, and Blythe, and starwars, and that helps, and then your eyeing me up and down and that doesn't help, so I think of Evan, and Marco, and my gunshot, and it helps... that's good,'
Joe blinked, remembering where he was. He noticed her allowing him to come in, taking in her scent as she stood there. So close, so her. He could smell the dinner cooking, and it had been so long since he'd actually eaten home cooked food. Was his stomach going to hate him for it- that it won't her another meal like this for a while?
"I love spaghetti," he smiled back, taking in her apartment, it was a lot nicer then his, cleaner.. you could tell a woman lived here. Of course he'd seen it all before, But it was different this time, she was here, dressed like that, and he was imagining it, pinning her down on the sofa, taking her like a man. Instead of whatever the hell that was back at his apartment.
Joe raised his eyebrows at her request, putting the flowers on the counter, "yeah of course," he smiled.
'I know where your leaving room is.' Joe eyed the wine glasses. Strolling over casually, he had a spring in his step and that step just broke-
'Is that Evan!?! Oh come on!'
Joe eyed the several picture frames, he'd seen them before, on her phone, her Instagram... but they hadn't been here when he'd broken in.. when he'd visited. It was a shrine! A memorial. Where was his picture, they could have a picture, and it would be front and centre, laughing at Evans duck faced selfie. He clenched his jaw slightly, fighting back the urge to 'accidentally' knock six of them over, throw them out the window and hoped they got run over by a car.
He took a deep breath, carefully grabbing two wine cups before turning on his heal and meeting her at the dining table, he took in the scent of fresh tomatoes and pasta. It smelt glorious. He placed the cups down before joining her in seat, "this looks amazing," Joe smiled, "I feel bad we ate Indian at mine.. my gas broke.. and my landlords a useless ass who doesn't fix anything," he mumbled. Grabbing his fork and starting to eat.
He was mid chew when Ella asked him a question. A almost personal question.
He chewed quicker, swallowing and wiping his mouth with the napkin provided, "M-my parents?" He repeated. "Oh, well ah- they both died when I was young so, Mr looney basically took me in," he shrugged.
'Lies... your father was an alcoholic piece of shit, and your mother took off when you were three, I was glad to get rid of the fucker, it was easy to stage, he had enough drugs in his system already, it just looked like an overdose. Thanks for the tips Mr Mooney,'
"But I was young when they died, three actually, so I don't remember much," he shrugged, why was she so curious about his family. "My Buick, the red one.. it's Mooneys to," he shrugged, "but he can't even get up on his own, so he lets me drive it, it's a piece of crap, but it runs," he breathed.
"What about you, you haven't told me about your parents," he smiled, he was the listener, woman loved a man who would listen.
And he was almost certain she wasn't wearing a bra.
'She wants me to notice, she wanted me to notice as soon as I walked in. I left her wanting, obviously, but she still wants me! That's a good thing, and I'm hard again, shit stop staring at her breasts!'
Joe cleared his throat, "ah, Ethan, today, actually, mentioned something about a lion suit? You wouldn't have.. told him," he muttered, "or Blythe," he mumbled even quieter, "I'm not opposed, but I hate Halloween," he added.
