The Jonas family is very tight-knit, but no one gets along better than twin brother and sister Joe and Brexley. They've been inseparable for their entire lives, and even during the Jonas Brothers years, when Joe was off touring with Nick and Kevin...
As much as I hate getting up early in the morning, today I had no choice but to do it. Nick and I have to plan before Joe wakes up, otherwise he'll find out prematurely that Nick is coming over to our apartment later today. Is this the best idea? No, probably not, knowing my twin brother's attitude towards Nick right now, but I don't see another option. On his own, Joe will never speak to him again, and that's just not feasible. I can't accept that their relationship is forever over, and Nick seems to feel the same way, so here we are planning. At 7 o'clock in the morning.
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After we have all the details squared away, I lay in my bed and scroll through my Instagram feed for a little while. I don't have the energy to get up right now, and it doesn't really help that I'm scared of how Joe will react. The only thing keeping me going with the plan is the fact that I know this has to be done. I refuse to allow my family to be torn apart by this band. Then, once I'm bored with Instagram, I switch to Twitter. This keeps my mind busy until about 9 ish, when I have to push myself out of bed and get ready for the Joe vs Nick showdown I'll witness in an hour and a half.
It's 10:15 when Joe strolls out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, yawning widely.
"What's for breakfast today?" he asks, sitting down and looking at me expectantly.
"The cereal you make for yourself," I cheekily say back, and he rolls his eyes at me.
"You're already up. Can't you just get it for me?" he asks, and I shake my head no.
"Quit being lazy. Get it yourself." He does, but grumbles quite a bit about it. Then, just as he's starting to eat his Cinnamon Toast Crunch, there's a knock at the door.
"Why's someone here now?" Joe asks, confused, as I gulp nervously.
I can feel my brother's suspicious gaze on me as I make my way over and pull the apartment door open, allowing Nick to enter. As soon as he crosses the threshold, Joe turns hostile. Not off to a great start, I'd say.
"Why the hell are you here?" he snaps.
"Joe, I have to talk to you. And I know this is the only way you'll let me," Nick says, almost pleading with him.
"I have nothing to say to you. Get the fuck out of our apartment."
"JJ, let him talk," I say, and he rounds on me.
"Did you have something to do with this? Brex, tell me you didn't."
"I-" I start, but he already knows my answer.
"You invited him here, didn't you? Even after I told you I hated him and didn't want to talk to him! Why do you always have to muddle with my shit? None of this band stuff even concerns you! This has absolutely nothing to do with you! Yet like always you have to stick your nose into it, and all you do is make it worse!" Joe yells.
"Maybe the band doesn't have anything to do with me, but you guys are still my brothers! I don't want to see you fight for the rest of your lives over something so stupid!" I yell back, immediately knowing that I said the wrong thing. Never, ever call something Joe is passionate about stupid.
"Oh, yeah, it's all about you then, isn't it? You're just as bad as Nick! You don't care about my feelings, you just want what's good for you! You don't care that I'm hurt, that seeing him makes me emotional because he crushed my dreams, do you! All you care is that you have your whole family singing kum-ba-ya together even if we don't really feel that way!" Joe screams.
"That's not it at all! Of course I care about you, how could you even doubt that I do? We've been closer than close our whole lives, for crying out loud!" I screech back at him.
"Yeah? Well, if I didn't know that firsthand, I wouldn't think we were after the way you're acting right now! Going behind my back to purposely do shit to piss me off just for your benefit? How does that make us closer than close?"
"It's not just for my benefit! It's for yours, and Nick's, and the rest of our family's! You're just too stubborn, too set in your ways to realize it! You're so worried about holding a grudge over this that you can't see when people are trying to help you!"
Joe turns on his heel furiously, walking into his room and slamming the door behind him. Nick and I can only stare at each other, utterly bewildered. I had a feeling there would be some fighting and harsh words shared today, but I thought it would be between Joe and Nick. Not Joe and I. We never fight, not ever. And especially not like this. But Nick and I don't even have time to exchange words, because minutes later my twin is back in the living room, a packed bag trailing along behind him.
"I'm done with this. I've always thought I could trust you with my life, Brexley, but if you're going behind my back to do this then I guess I can't trust you at all. And if that's the case, then there's no point in me staying here," Joe says, grabbing his car keys off the table.
"Where are you going? You can't just leave," I say.
"Yes, I can. I'm moving out," he says, and in a flash he's out the door. It takes me a minute to process what just happened, but then it clicks. He's really leaving me behind right now, and if I don't get out of this stupor quickly I'm going to lose him.
"Joe! Wait, Joe, please, don't do this. I'm sorry! Joseph Adam Jonas!" I yell after him, running down the apartment complex hallway and trying my hardest to catch him. But he's gone, long gone, and I know him well enough to understand he's not going to come back. His mind is made up.
I'm already bawling before I'm even back in the apartment, and Nick is still standing there in shock. I slam the door behind me and flop on the couch, burying my face in a pillow, which is soaked through in an instant.
"He's really gone?" Nick asks, and I can only wail the affirmative. "I'm sorry. This is my fault, Brexley-I should go." Without another word, he leaves. I'm officially alone now.
Joe and I, we've never screamed at each other like that before, never fought so aggressively. The only reason we did today was because of me. If I'd let him figure out his own life, like he'd wanted, we'd still be on good terms. But because I did exactly what he said I did, put myself above him like a selfish idiot, I lost him. Maybe for good.
