What This Could Be- Joe Jonas Fanfic

Chapter 19: My Mysterious Girl

*Joe's POV*

My reality and dream merged together, as if I had never fallen asleep or never woke up in the first place. Which one, I couldn't tell. That is, until my vivid dream faded with the sound of my phone buzzing in the pocket of my pants that were sprawled on the floor.

It couldn't have been morning already.

I turned, reaching my hand out to Taylor next to me, "Babe?"

Nothing.

Was it all just a dream? No, it couldn't have been, otherwise her shoes wouldn't be on the floor.

I shot up wide awake with anxiety peaking with each second passing. I jumped out of the bed, quickly making my move to grab my phone before I missed the call. I didn't have time to feel vulnerable with my naked body completely exposed.

Just as I managed to seize my phone from my pants pocket, the buzzing stopped.

One missed call from Dani.

She wouldn't be calling me at two in the morning if it weren't serious. My mind spiraled to the worst-case scenarios while I called her back, waiting for her to pick up. I threw on the first thing I saw in my suitcase, coincidentally a matching pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.

"Joe," Dani finally answered.

"Is she okay?" I instinctively asked.

"Can you come down to the pool?" her calmness helped maintain a level head.

"But is she okay?" I repeated, already out the door heading to the elevator.

"Physically, yes," she answered, allowing me to take a breath.

"I'm on the way down now," I informed her, hitting the ground floor level button before hanging up.

Did I do something wrong? Was she second-guessing us now that we made it official? Did Nick say something in their conversation that upset her?

I had come up with so many conclusions by the time I rushed out the doors, the night breeze hitting my face. It was what I loved the most about the fall weather.

I instantly spotted Dani and Taylor by the edge of the pool. Dani's arm was around Taylor for comfort.

"Hey, what's going on?" I softly asked, mostly directing it to Taylor, but I would have accepted an answer from either one of them.

Dani looked at me with sympathetic eyes as she let go of Taylor. "It'll be okay. Call me if you need me, okay?" she put a hand on her arm gently before standing up.

I mouthed a 'thank you' to Dani as she passed me with a nod.

"I told her not to call you," Taylor stated, her eyes glued to the ripples of the water.

"I'm glad she did," I replaced Dani's seat, riding the legs of my sweatpants up to place them in the water, "What's wrong?"

She handed me her phone, "I apparently have a new nickname now. I'm your mysterious girl."

Skimming through her recent google search, fan accounts and the media broke the news of us. She was no longer someone I could protect from that part of my world. It was bound to happen.

I set her phone down to the side, "Is that what's bothering you? If it's too much, I get it. I'll understand."

"No," she kicked her feet in the water, deep in thought still not wanting to look at me, "Are you okay with it?"

"I don't care unless it affects you," I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her towards me, kissing the side of her head. Taking a closer look at her, I noticed her tear-stained face with rosy cheeks and nose, "Did I do something wrong?"

She shook her head, "I had a fight with Liv."

"About?"

She let out a deep breath, "I told her I purposely didn't really want her to come."

"But you asked me if I could still fly her out here?" I questioned, wondering if I was still lucid dreaming or if women are just really difficult to understand.

"Because I felt guilty taking away a possible once-in-a-lifetime experience," her voice rose in frustration before pausing to recollect herself, "This might sound really selfish, but I wanted tonight to be just you and me. Not you, me, and my best friend."

It started to click, "You're allowed to take a break, you know. It doesn't make you selfish to want to spend time with your partner. I'm sure that's something she'd understand."

"That's not why she's upset," she explained further, "I made it sound like her dying is a nuisance. That I can't enjoy my life with her around."

"Can you?" I could sense there was some truth to it.

She reflected, not expecting me to respond with a deep yearning to understand, "Truthfully? No. It's all I can think about, even if I'm not actively thinking about it. Subconsciously, my brain know she's dying, you know? And I keep wondering, is this the last trip I have with her? Or the last movie we'll watch together? Or the last holiday? It's always something, even the most basic shit we take for granted."

I fell silent, absorbing the complexity of the situation.

She finally glanced at me, humiliation and regret filling her eyes, "I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

"No, no. It's not that," I remained unperturbed, "How about I call her tomorrow morning? I'll fly her out here. Let me take care of it."

"She won't come," she stated, "She wants literally nothing to do with me."

"I never said I'd be flying her out for you," I gave her a small smile, "Besides, I can be pretty convincing."

She smiled back with appreciation. It didn't reach her eyes, but it was better than nothing.

I noticed goosebumps forming on her skin as the wind continued to blow on us. "Here," I slipped my hoodie off over my head and handed it to her.

She obliged, putting it on to cover her upper half before her gazing at me now shirtless, "I feel like you're just trying to distract me at this point."

"Maybe just a little bit," I chuckled, "C'mon, my mysterious girl. Let's go back inside and try to get some sleep."

"Only if you keep a shirt off," she commented, her spark slowly nearing its way back.

"You think I'll be wearing clothes to bed?" I bantered back.

"I'm just warning you, if you feel hands tonight, they have a mind of their own!" she teased, raising her palms in front in an innocent surrendering.

I gave her a piggyback ride back to our hotel room where we both removed all clothing and laid holding each other, falling asleep fairly fast once our heads hit the pillows.

I just wished I was confident in coaxing Liv to fly out as much as it sounded like. Honestly, the last thing my mind was thinking before it all went blank was playing out different ways our conversation in the morning could go.