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

Chapter 57: Just Me and You

*Joe's POV*

My fingers tapped anxiously on the door panel as my brain and mouth were going head-to-head with each other. My brain flooded with numerous ways of apologizing, but my mouth wouldn't open to speak them.

"Can you maybe not?" Nick piped up, annoyed at the sound of my tapping.

"Sorry," I pulled my hand off and into my lap, fidgeting with my nails as an alternative. I was able to apologize for that but not yesterday?

He noticed my nervous habits on display, "You nervous to go back to Sophie's?"

"It's not like I'm going inside, so no," I swallowed any pride I had, "Um, I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Can you elaborate?" he didn't want to make this easy on me.

Because of the mix of emotions, it was hard to decipher exactly what I said and had done, "Just everything. All of it."

"Like what?" he pushed, "What exactly are you trying to say? Because right now I don't understand."

I adjusted my sunglasses, not that I really needed them in the London weather, especially this early, "I'm sorry you had to drive us back to your house."

He wasn't buying my shit answer, "Try again."

"I'm sorry I raised my voice at you. I shouldn't have taken it out on you," I felt like I was a kid again apologizing to my parents or stuck in the principal's office for doing something stupid. "You—" I paused, my tongue wanting to reject my next admittance, "You were right. Are you happy now?"

"Partially," he stopped himself from fully smirking, "Are you and Taylor okay?"

"We are," I said, replaying our morning, "Sometimes I wonder why she's settling with me."

He hit my arm, giving me a face to take my statement back.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, flinching away even though it barely hurt, "What was that for?" 

 "Seriously?" he retorted, "Sometimes you're an idiot. She's just as lucky as you are."

"Agree to disagree," I replied as we pulled up into the driveway.

Sophie was outside with Willa and Delphine, playing in the clean-cut grass. Their whimsical demeanor put a smile on my face. Until I saw him walk into view, picking Delphine up, twirling her to bring her into laughter.

"Hell no," I murmured under my breath, anger surging through my veins. He wasn't about to take my place as Dad. Ever.

"Joe, no," he grabbed my arm, pulling me back into the car after I went to step out, "Not in front of your girls."

"You know there's one thing I'd never do," I whipped my head to look back at Nick, "And that's bring my daughters in my mess."

He stayed in the car, watching from afar in case anything went wrong or if I needed any assistance.

"Good morning, my beautiful angels!" I picked up Willa as she ran up to me in excitement that I had kept yesterday's promise. I then made my way to Delphine and grabbed her out of his arms without giving him any acknowledgment of his existence.

"Joe!" Sophie shouted out with her arms partially raised as I walked back to Nick's car. Before anything, their protection came first.

After buckling the girls in with Nick's help to make the process faster, I could feel Sophie coming up behind me.

"Why are you being bloody rude?" she remarked.

Shutting the car door so they wouldn't be able to hear any more of our conversation, I took her to the side on the lawn, "I don't like him here."

"And?" her head shook, "What do you want me to do about that?"

"Not have him around them."

"Well, that's not an option, Joe," she crossed her arms, "You can't expect me to accept your partner with them if you can't do the same."

"I also wasn't the one that had an affair, so," I sneered.

She ran her hand through her hair with exasperation, "This is why we aren't together. You're older than me, but where's your maturity?"

"Mature? Really?" I crossed my own arms, subconsciously my body's way of protecting myself, "I gave up raising them in the States to make it easy for them to feel like they have a permanent home growing up instead of exhausting them every two goddamn weeks going back and forth. I travel to them for the most part. They go to nursery here. And I never brought them into our divorce like you did. Publicly, mind you."

I couldn't stop. Everything I wanted to say, I started blurting out.

"So forgive me if I don't want him around our daughters, our daughters," I kept my voice low, but my tone cut our lividity towards one another, "You know 'our' includes me, right? Just me and you."

"Just me and you?" she rebutted, "Okay. I don't want Taylor around them either. How's that about 'just me and you,' hm?" 

The anger was building up in me. I wanted so badly to punch something, anything, a feeling I've only experienced very few times I could easily count on one hand.

"Joe," Nick's hand grabbed my shoulder, stopping Sophie and I's confrontation, "We're going to miss the Sesame Street play if we don't leave now."

I stared at Sophie in silence, her doing the same, before I whirled around to Nick's car. His hand never left my shoulder as he walked by my side until I quickly sat in the passenger's seat, looking at Willa behind me from the rearview mirror.

"I didn't know we had plans to go to a play," I told Nick once he hopped in the driver's seat.

"We don't," he slightly smirked, saving my ass like any good brother would.