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

Forgot Something

The next day, Joe ended up apologizing profusely. He wasn't above himself and didn't want to be on bad terms with Ariel so he crawled back to her on his hands and knees and begged for forgiveness. She accepted, but told him that he didn't do anything wrong so she had no idea why he was apologizing. She wasn't too proud towards him anymore so she also apologized for taking the prank too far and they ended up back where they started, as friends. 

When Spring was over and Summer had just began its blaze, Ariel had already decided that Joe was never going to ask her out. It had been months since they first reunited and there was no way a guy who was interested in her would wait this long to ask for a simple date...right? She had no idea, but this was absolutely ridiculous. Shy or not, this was not okay. The problem was if she'd be okay asking him out. Would she be brave enough to ask, or was she just as shy? 

No, now that she thought about it, shyness had nothing to do with it. She just couldn't ask him out now because they had developed a dangerous friendship. A one-sided love had stopped Joe from moving to the next step, but a now developed friendship stopped her from moving to a relationship. If he didn't like her the way she thought he did, and she asked him out, then their friendship would be awkward...wouldn't it? 

Oh no, she thought. Did he somehow find out that she wasn't the tough and mysterious girl she led him to believe and he finally see her as that childish, obnoxious and incorrigible girl she really was? She let him in too close, and he knew too much about her now to keep on the facade. Damn! She was scared; their relationship had proven to be quite dangerous. 

By now Autumn had come and nothing had changed. She decided to put her feelings aside and Joe never took the next step. Her birthday was coming up and it felt silly to celebrate, but Joe insisted for some reason. It was on a week day, and they both had work so they waited till the end of the week to make up the festivities. 

"Happy birthday," Joe's card read, accompanied with the normal bouquet of flowers that she normally got at work. 

He would, Ariel thought as she played with the card that had come on her birthday. She cringed at the thought of entering another year alone and placed the card back in a drawer where she kept all his other cards that came with his flowers. Work had just begun, and Ariel already knew what she would be doing tonight when she and Joe would paint the town red. If she was going to celebrate another lonely year, she was going to drink till she couldn't get up in the morning. 

As the day went by, she slowly began to forget about it all. Working at a police department would normally make her forget about her problems quickly because it was fast paced and unpredictable. Today was neither, but paperwork would work just as well. When work was done, and the day had gone by, Joe picked her up as usual and they went to a nearby fast food restaurant. 

"If you wanted to eat, we could have gone to a better place," Joe said, watching Ariel stuff her face with a burger. "Are you sure you want to eat your birthday dinner here?" 

"My birthday was 3 days ago," she shrugged, taking another bite. "There's no need to make a big deal out of it." 

"Well, I did have reservations some place else," he tried to casually mention. 

"It's okay, I like this food better," she smiled. "Pass the ketchup. So what did you have in mind for tonight?" 

He took the red bottle and gave it to her. "Dinner and a movie." 

She winced. "I thought I said I wanted to drink tonight." 

"That sounds depressing, doesn't it?" he shook his head disapprovingly. "C'mon. Let's do something special."