What We Seem to have Forgotten (ArJoe Fan-Fiction) (Completed)

April 1st

 

The first couple of months were hard to deal with for Ariel when Joe dropped her off from and to work because her co-workers were being a bit too obviously amused by it. Her boss was okay with it, but all the other officers were all over Joe. Ariel was known to be professional and she never talked about her social life, so when Joe first dropped her off, they thought he was her brother. But when Ariel cleared it up, much to her own dislike, her co-workers bombarded Joe with questions that he didn't know how to answer. 

Then came the flowers. Ariel knew Joe was getting in way too deep when he started sending her random flowers to her office even after she told him not to. He knew she would accept them this time and her co-workers would tease her mercilessly for it. She was getting sick of it but couldn't throw them away until they died because she didn't want to hurt Joe's feelings. 

And everyday, when she would waited for Joe to pick her up, her co-workers would all stop working for about five minutes to check when Joe would come in and they would hoot and holler as if he was Richard Gere in a sailor suit. Ariel would be mortified, but Joe was amused by it. He would give that same half-smile and shy wave to her and then at her co-workers before taking her home. This is what she got for never learning to like driving, she thought. 

By now, however, Ariel had become accustomed to the embarrassing stares and her co-workers immaturity. As long as Joe wasn't hurt or teased, she was okay with it. He was enjoying the attention too and he really seemed happy just to be around her. What was uncomfortable was she was enjoying his company too. 

It was around the beginning of Spring, and Ariel and Joe had become exceptionally close. They weren't dating, but had a solid friendship. Joe still made things quite apparent that he had feelings for her, but never tried to take the next step towards a relationship. She figured he was too shy to make the first move...or maybe was reluctant to because he had been rejected before. When she asked him about it, he became speechless. 

"W-why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" he said, obviously still uncomfortable with her bluntness. They were grabbing a hot dog for lunch at the park they usually walk at and he had almost dropped his when she asked him. 

"I just wanted to know," she shrugged, taking a bite of hers as they walked slowly through the pathway. "When are you going to ask me out?" 

"I didn't know that was an option," he said, a bit shocked that she would even ask him. 

"It's not, I just wanted know why you never asked me out," she continued, finishing her dog. "I would still reject you, but it would be nice to be asked." 

"You little stinker!" he nudged her arm, playfully. "My feelings are not for you to toy with." 

"Speaking of toys, can I play with your camera now?" she asked, pointing to his SRL. "I cleaned my hands." 

"You're such a kid," he laughed before he finished his own hot dog. Taking the camera sling off his neck, he handed her the camera . "Here." 

"Nice," she smiled widely as they stopped walking and she took his camera. "What have you been shooting these days?" 

"Random stuff, mostly," he said, watching her obsessively examining the cameras photos. "You wouldn't understand." 

She stuck out her tongue at him for that. Scanning through the photos, Ariel looked for the photos she took. "Where are my pictures?" 

"You mean the ones of your stuffed animals?" he scoffed. "I deleted them!" 

"You deleted them??" She screeched. "They were important to me! How could you?"