brother's best friend || joey birlem

chapter seven

"I'm gonna take a shower." Tayler said after he ended the YouNow broadcast. Me and Joey nodded and I sat on the couch while Joey stayed in the floor.

"You just gonna stay in the floor?" I asked.

"Yeah. I like it down here." Joey laughed.  "We should scare Tayler."

"How?" I asked.

"Umm, we could hide in the closet and he'll think we're gone and then we'll pop out and scare him." Joey said.

"Okay. But can we wait until he's about to come out of the bathroom?" I laughed. Joey laughed and nodded.

--

I heard the shower turn off, so I nudged Joey and we ran into the closet. It was a pretty small closet, so me and Joey were standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Put your phone on silent." Joey whispered. I did what he told me to do and then put it back in my pocket. I heard the bathroom door open and I held in my laughs.

"Joey? Kaylee? Where the hell are you?" Tayler yelled. I looked at Joey who was biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh. I started to lose my balance which caused me to take a step closer to Joey, and our hands touched.
I saw him look down at our hands, and he intertwined our fingers. I smiled down at our hands, and then at Joey. He smiled back at me, then looked back at the door that was now opening.

"Dude, you scared the crap out of me." Tayler laughed as he opened the door.

"Well, we were gonna scare you but looks like you ruined our plan." Joey said. I laughed and squeezed his hand lightly.

"Why were you go- why are you holding hands?" Tayler asked. Crap, I forgot about that. I quickly pulled my hand out of Joey's grip.

"Nevermind. I don't want to know." Tayler said, shaking his head and walking away. Joey walked out of the closet and I followed. He sat on the couch next to Tayler.

"I'm gonna take a shower." I said awkwardly. Tayler nodded and I walked to the bathroom. I turned some music on my phone and then I turned the shower on and got in.
I sang along to 'You Found Me' by The Fray. After I was done showering, I blow dried my hair and threw on a big tshirt and some Nike running shorts.
As I layed in bed, I checked my phone. I scrolled through Twitter, and I was stopped by what I saw. Joey had posted a video of me singing.

@josephbirlem
wow, that's talent. @kayleeholder

I read through the replies and they were all nice, and saying that I was really good. I hopped out of bed and ran into the living room to see Joey on his phone and Tayler no where in sight.

"I saw your video." I said as I sat next to him on the couch.

"You're freaking amazing." Joey told me.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"You should really make a YouNow or something and sing." He said.

"I'll think about it." I said. He nodded and smiled. "Look, Joey. I need to tell you something." I said looking down.

"Yeah?" He asked. I bit my lip nervously.

"I uh, I like you. And before you say anything I jus-" I was cut off by Joey's lips crashing into mine. His hand layed softly on my cheek and the other on my leg. I put my hand on his arm and left my other in my lap. Then, after a few seconds, he pulled away and smiled.

"I like you too." He said. Then he leaned in and kissed me again. He pulled me onto his lap as he held onto my sides. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What the hell!" Tayler yelled. I pulled away from Joey and stood up.

"Tayler." I started.

"Do you not remeber me telling you that I don't want you to date Joey?" Tayler asked.

"We aren't dating, Tayler." Joey told him.

"Then why were you swallowing my sisters face?" Tayler asked.

"I-I don't know. Look, I like her and she likes me. You can't change that." Joey told Tayler.

"Youre right. I can't change that. But I don't want you two seeing each other." He said. I felt tears form in my eyes. I turned around and looked at Joey and he looked hurt.

"Fine. I'll be at my place if you need me." Joey said as he walked out of my apartment. I turned and looked at Tayler with tears starting to roll down my cheeks.

"Kaylee, I-" Tayler said. I ran out of the living room and into my room. I slammed the door and layed face down in my pillow.

--

I had been laying in my bed for about an hour, and then I heard a knock at my door. I didn't move, but the door opened and I felt someone sit on my bed.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Tayler said. I ignored him and he sighed.

"I overreacted. It's just weird for my best friend to be sucking faces with my little sister. I'm just scared one of you is gonna end up hurt. I really am sorry." He said. I sat up and looked at him.

"Tayler, if you care about me you would want me happy right?" I asked.

"Yeah of course I would." He said.

"And Joey makes me happy." I told him. He looked down and ran his hand through his hair.

"Look, if he makes you happy, I'm willing to at least pretend to be okay with it. I'm gonna let you see Joey. But if he hurts you, it's going down." Tayler laughed.

"Thanks, Tayler." I smiled. I reached over and hugged him.

"No problem. I'm gonna go talk to Joey." He said. I pulled away and nodded, then he walked out of my room.