careless

chapter one : little snowflakes

careless | chapter one

[ brooklyn, new york ; thanksgiving day ; 2:27 p.m. ]

Joe's POV

It was Thanksgiving Day. Every year the Lovato's hosted a dinner party with their family and always invite me, my dad, and my brother. Probably because Angie knows my dad doesn't cook and would most likely just order take out. Which normally I do anyway, but I could never turn down one of Angie's home cooked meals. 

"Dude, come on. I'm not bringing you food if you stay out here." Ryan said as he stood outside my car. We both had to work late yesterday so I picked him up last night before out shift and he ended up staying the night because he's a lazy little shit.

"Sorry." I said as I opened my door and got out, walking up to the sidewalk and out of the street. 

"What's wrong with you? You've been quiet all day." Ryan asked as he stopped me and furrowed his brows at me. 

"I'm just nervous, okay?" I admitted as I sighed. I heard Ryan chuckle. 

"What? Why are you nervous? You've met our family before." He asked a little confused. 

"I know, but it's different this time." I told him as I locked my car. 

"How so?" He asked. 

"I'm not just your best friend to them anymore. I'm Demi's boyfriend now, too." I said as I put my keys in my pocket. 

"Joe, they like you as my best friend. So I know they'll like you as Demi's boyfriend." He reassured me. I shrugged not really sure what to say. "Besides, I'm the only one who would have a problem with you. The rest of our family lets Demi make her own decisions, like idiots." He joked. I chuckled and we started walking towards their house. 

Demi and I had been dating for a few months now. Things started to get more serious when I finally gave her the key to my apartment. Ever since then she's come over a lot more often. Even when I wasn't there and she just needed somewhere to go in between classes. It was nice coming home from a class or from work and seeing her there. I wasn't exactly ready to have her move in yet, but I knew I wanted to take that next step in our relationship in the future.

Ryan and I reached the front door and he opened it. We walked in and found the living room filled with Demi and Ryan's family. It wasn't a ton of people. Just a few Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and their only living Grandparent, Grams. A few family members immediately said hello to us as we walked in and put away our jackets. Eventually we said a brief hello to everyone and made our way to the couch. The only people I didn't see was Demi and her mom. I figured they were in the kitchen working on the food. Out of everyone, Grams was the one I was the least worried about me. I always knew she adored me. In fact, the year Demi and Derek broke up Grams said that Demi and I should start dating. Little did she know... 

A few minutes later Demi's Uncle Pete sat next to me and started talking about how great he thought it was that Demi and I were dating now. 

"I never really liked Derek anyway." He admitted to me as he sipped on a Corona. "I always thought there was something off about him." He continued. I didn't really know how to respond so I just slowly nodded and chuckled slightly. 

"Me too." Ryan chimed in. I looked at him and laughed to myself. It made me feel better knowing that he hated Derek too. After a few minutes of talking with Uncle Pete his wife came over and asked him to change their baby's diaper. Once he left I turned to Ryan. 

"I'll be right back." I said as I stood up and then made my way to the kitchen. I walked in to see Angie, Demi, and Brie all standing around the island. Demi was sitting on one of the stools while Brie leaned against the countertop and Angie was on the opposite side of the island.