What This Could Be | A Joe Jonas Fanfic | Book One

Chapter 24: Flowers Are Everywhere

*Joe's POV*

"Like, right now, right now?" I wasn't sure I heard her correctly.

"Right now," she confirmed, pulling her phone from her back pocket of her overalls.

"Wait!" I frantically removed my hat, ruffling my hair, "I don't look parent-ready!"

"Babe," she smiled, pushing my hand aside and started to fix my hair herself, "I'm going to pretend to know what that means, but you look as handsome as ever."

"Were you this nervous meeting my family?" I asked, feeling my heart pound fast as she sat next to me

She nodded her head, "I'm sure I will be meeting your parents, but so far, the only person that's made me insanely nervous was your younger brother. Does he know how intimidating he can be?"

"He thrives off of it," I replied, "Why? Was he being standoffish in the lounge? Because I can talk to him about—"

"No," she interrupted, "He actually gave me great insight and advice. You're really lucky to have them as your brothers."

While I had been curious of their conversations, it didn't feel right to ask like an overprotective and insecure boyfriend. Just as much as I had developed a friendship of my own with someone who she considered a sister, she was allowed to do the same with my brothers. In fact, I encouraged it.

"Ready?" she asked before giving me a kiss and hit the FaceTime call to her mom.

Every millisecond felt like an eternity. I only knew what they looked like years ago from a photo when her older sister had gotten married.

"Hi, Honey!" her mom eventually popped up on the screen, her face extremely close to the screen, "Oh my, is this a video? How does this work again?"

I pressed my lips together, stifling a laugh. This was the most mom thing to witness.

"Mom," Taylor grimaced in embarrassment, "hold the phone further away. The inside of your nostrils isn't what we want to see."

"Is this better? Can you see me now?" her camera angle moved to where she was now in view, for the most part at least, "Oh! Taylor! You didn't warn me you'd be with other people!"

"Hi, Mrs. Baird," I put my hand up to wave with a smile, "You look beautiful, don't worry."

"Is that Taylor?" I heard an older man's voice walking closer before Taylor's dad came into view next to her mom, "Hey, Sweetie! Who's your friend?"

"Actually," she glanced at me, "this is my boyfriend, Joe."

"Hey, Mr. Baird," I did the same gesture for him as I did for her mom, "It's nice to meet you both, even if it's virtually for now."

Taylor squeezed my hand out of view to calm my nerves, "How're you both doing?"

"We're good!" he answered before bringing his attention to the 'boyfriend' detail, "Are you treating my daughter well? She's a special one."

"She is," I took a look at her, "I have all my respect and care for her. You have my word."

"How'd you two meet?" the interrogation began, which I was expecting. I knew I would be the same with my girls when that time came.

"It's kind of a funny story," I started to explain, "I fell for her, literally."

"He might need to put some training wheels back on the bike," Taylor interjected.

"Yeah," my cheeks began to blush, "but your beautiful daughter helped me, brought me to this park that I had no idea existed, and..." I trailed off, pausing for a moment, "I don't even think Taylor knows this, but I find myself going there whenever I miss her or need some peace. It's definitely one of my favorite places in the world now because of her."

Her face twitched in contented confusion, "Really? I didn't know that."

"That's so sweet!" her mom elated, "And you're cute too! Taylor, I taught you well. Joe, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am," I confirmed.

"Has anyone ever said you have a really familiar face?" her eyebrows scrunched together to put her finger to a name.

"He's, um... He's pretty well-known," Taylor responded, "Do you remember the posters Lucy had up on her wall?"

"Oh my gosh! Yes!" she exclaimed, "The Disney movie with the camp or something, right?"

We both couldn't help but laugh. "Yep. That's the one," she winked at me.

"I just I no longer work for Disney or at a camp," I poked fun at my younger, cringy days before getting back to topic, "I've been trying to ask Taylor if we could visit Lucy though, along with you guys too."

"Aw, Taylor!" her mom's eyes started to welt, "Lucy would love that. We just visited her a few days ago. We brought her some yellow daisies on your behalf."

"Maybe," Taylor suddenly rushed to finish the conversation, "We gotta get going, but I promise I'll call you when I get back to New York. I love and miss you!"

"Wait, you're not in New York—" her dad asked, but was cut short by Taylor abruptly ending the call.

These were the moments that confused the living fuck out of me, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," she nonchalantly answered.

"No," I stood my ground this time, "I refuse that answer. This, is why I don't feel like I know you."

She leaned her back against the headboard, her eyes gazing down, "I don't like talking about Lucy."

"Why?"

"Because we aren't as close as we once were," she admitted, "The only thing we really have that still connects us is yellow flowers, as stupid as that may sound."

Finally. Some clarifications I could go off of, "So you lied?"

She stared at me, scared to say it, "Yes."

I grabbed her face in my hands and rested my forehead against hers, "I'm not mad if that's what you're worried about. I get it. We didn't know each other then. It's okay. And if you ever want to talk about what happened between you guys, I'm here. I know now, you know? Would I still like to meet her? Absolutely. She's still your sister."

She placed her hands on my jawline and pressed her lips passionately against mine, overwhelmed with emotion.

Breaking away, I stated, "I do have one more question about her. Why yellow flowers?"

"Yellow's her favorite color. If she were a color, it'd be her. Bright, cheerful, happy, and sometimes blinding to where you can't be around it for too long, otherwise you'll have a raging sunburn," she answered, "and flowers... Flowers are everywhere. She's everywhere."