Before the Storm (A Jonas Brothers Fanfic)

Chapter 6

Joe

"So I take it you're not a very big fan of ours, huh?" I asked Aubrey as we sat in the backstage cafeteria.

She laughed.

God I've missed that laugh.

"No, actually. I'm not really a boy band kinda girl. Sorry." She shrugged and I smiled at her.

"Apology accepted. So you're just a good sister trying to make your little sister happy?"

She nodded. "Pretty much. I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for her."

"Oh yeah? And where would you be?"

"Probably at this new club that just opened. My friend got these passes and-"

"And you would rather be there?"

"I don't know. Today was a pretty interesting day," she smiled and chuckled. "I would've never thought my sister's infatuation with a boy band would lead me to having some free backstage passes."

"Well this infatuated band is hungry. What is there to eat?" Nick said from behind me, with not-so-little Ronnie following behind.

"Nothing, dude. Just some fruits," I responded to my younger brother.

"Ronnie! There you are," Aubrey said, getting up from the table we were sitting at. "We should probably get going, but thank you guys for-"

"Leaving so soon? Aw, come on," Nick said to a confused Aubrey.

"I really have had a good time, but it's late. Don't you guys have another show tomorrow?" I could tell she felt like she was intruding on us.

I looked at Nick and back at Aubrey. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you'd like, but if you really would like to leave, then-"

Ronnie was watching me and cut me off. "Aubrey, come on! Just a little while longer! Nick was just giving me a tour. After we finish, we can leave." She nodded and smiled at her big sister.

Aubrey smiled at her and turned to me. "We'll stay a little longer."

"Yay! Come on, Nick," Ronnie said, following Nick down the hallway.

I patted the seat next to me. "Would you like pizza?"

"What happened to only having fruits?" She looked at me, confused.

I chuckled. "We can order pizza, you know."

"Oh," she said, her cheeks slowly turning red. "Yeah, sure, I'd love some."

I smiled at her, really smiled. The last time I saw her flashed through my mind - the cuts, the bruises. I quickly turned away and grabbed my phone to text my mom to order some food.

"I have a question," Aubrey said, looking at me.

"Shoot," I said as I hit send and focused my attention on Aubrey.

"How old are you? I know Nick is my sister's age, but that's about all I know about you guys," she said with a light chuckle in her voice.

"Nineteen. Twenty this month, actually. How about you?" I asked, trying to put as much curiosity in my voice as possible.

I turned to sit facing her.

"Nineteen, as well." She smiled.

Buzz.

I look down and see a text from my mom.

"Pizza's on its way," I looked at Aubrey.

"Great, I'm starved," she said with a smile.

--------

"So, we did this one performance at the AMA's and sang 'SOS'," Nick started telling Aubrey and Ronnie.

"Oh, please don't," I said, eyeing Nick.

"And we came out through these glass doors that would break, kind of to symbolize some of the lines in the song, and Joe slipped and his hand caught his landing - right on the glass."

"Ohhhh," Aubrey said with a laugh and looked at me. "That really sucks."

I rolled my eyes, "Thank you, Nick." Nick, Kevin, Ronnie, and Aubrey laughed while I just sat there embarrassed.

Aubrey looked at me reassuredly. "It's okay, Joe. I'm kind of a klutz, too."

"Yeah, I remember this time that A-" Nick began to tell his story, but quickly stopped realizing what he was about to say.

We sat there in silence with a confused Aubrey.

"What were you going to say, Nick?" Aubrey asked.

"Oh, no, nothing. Just this thing, but it's kind of personal."

Good save.

"Oh, alright." Aubrey shrugged and looked down at her phone, jumping up. "Is that the time? Oh god, Ronnie, we should probably get going."

"Well, hey," Kevin said, getting up after Aubrey. "You guys were really cool to hang out with, we should do this again sometime?"

Aubrey looked at Kevin, mouth agape. "Uh, yeah, sure. Maybe." She smiled and nodded. "Come on, Ronnie." She drank some more of her soda and grabbed her stuff. "Thank you guys for everything, it was a pleasure." She hugged Nick, then Kevin, then me. I never wanted to let go, but I knew I had to.

Ronnie came up to me and hugged me last, slipping a piece of paper into my hand.

"She remembers. Keep in touch."

I opened the paper and it was Ronnie's cell phone number.

She remembers?