After All (A Jordan Knight/Joe McIntyre Fanfiction)

17

By the time Jordan gets to Amber's party, it's already in full swing. An angry phone call from Evelyn made him late. She called him to find out who the hell he was buying a diamond bracelet for. She knew it wasn't for her, she doesn't wear white gold. It didn't ease her mind when he explained it was for Amber's birthday. He almost felt like she would have rather it been for a lover than for his daughter. Evelyn hasn't grown any fonder of the idea that Jordan has a twenty year old daughter, well a twenty-one year old daughter now. By the time she's done yelling at him he realizes he's probably missed the surprise.

When Jordan walks into the party his eyes immediately look for Amber. He doesn't see her, but he does see Joe sitting at a table just off the dance floor. He's slouching in the high back booth, staring absentmindedly at the people dancing. "Hey Joe, where's Amber?" Joe looks up at Jordan and nods towards the dance floor. Jordan scans the crowd until he finds her. What he sees sends a firery rage through him. She's dancing with some guy Jordan's never seen before. He's got his hands all over her and his tongue down her throat.

Without a second thought Jordan storms over to them. He grabs the guy and pulls him away from Amber. "Get your hands off my daughter."

"Hey stop it Jordan. What the fuck are you doing?" Amber's pissed. Where does he get the nerve? Amber's dance partner looks shocked. "Your dad's here? How old did you say you were?"

Amber rolls her eyes. "He is not my Dad." She emphasizes the word not. "Jordan you need to back the fuck off. You wanted me to be with someone my own age, well this is what that looks like. This is how guys my age act. They're all about the meaningless sex. Unlike guys a little bit older. They're all about the love and respect, but you don't want that for me. So just leave me alone. I don't need you or want you in my life. Go away. I've got to get back to my date. I plan on getting laid for my birthday."

Jordan's left speechless. He wants to argue with her. He wants to pull her off the dance floor and make her go home. But he knows he doesn't have the right. He should have listened to Sara Beth and not said anything to her about Joe. Amber goes back to dancing with her "new guy". Jordan walks off the dance floor, feeling like he's lost any chance of having a relationship with Amber.

"Joe, why are you just sitting here?"

He looks up at Jordan. "Seriously man? What else can I do? I broke up with her. She might hate me more than she hates you right now. Fuck this, I shouldn't even be here. I'm out." Joe gets up, takes one last look at Amber, and leaves.

Amber watches Joe leave, with Jordan not far behind him. She quickly ditches the stranger and goes to find Andi. They sit together in the bathroom and Amber cries on Andi's shoulder. "Sweetie, you can't spend your birthday crying in the bathroom. You need to go out there and have a good time. Have you even had your first legal drink yet?" Amber wipes her eyes and shakes her head. "Well we need to remedy that." The two best friends share several drinks while they dance and celebrate together. They stumble into the hotel at the end of the night, all sad thoughts forgotten. The night turned out to be perfect.

Amber realizes she doesn't have her phone when they reach their room. She thinks she must have left it at the front desk when they stopped to see if they had any messages. Andi's not feeling that great, so Amber puts her on the elevator and goes to look for her phone alone.

Amber giggles as she walks away from the front desk with her phone. "What's so funny birthday girl?" Amber stops dead in her tracks when she hears his voice behind her. The doors to the elevator open up just as she's about to turn to look at him. She feels his hand touch her lower back as they walk into the elevator. It sends heat up her spine. "How was your birthday?"

Amber looks up into Joe's beautiful blue eyes, "It was almost perfect." He smiles down at her. "Just almost?" She smiles back at him and nods her head. Amber bites her bottom lip, then suddenly she shoves Joe against the elevator wall and her mouth is on his. He kisses her back, matching her passion and need. When the elevator doors open on their floor Joe abruptly ends their kiss. "Joe, don't stop, please just give me tonight. Make love to me one last time, for my birthday. You can't deny a girl her one and only birthday wish." She attempts to smile up at him, but fails to meet his eyes. She's too afraid of what she'll see in them.

"I'm sorry Amber, I can't. It wouldn't be right. Nothing's changed." Amber feels her heart break all over again. The pain rips through her as tears fall down her cheeks. She walks out of the elevator without looking back. It's over. She's got to accept that and move on.

When she gets back to the room she's sharing with Andi she's more embarrassed than anything else. Throwing herself at Joe like that was wrong. Why had she done that?

Amber vows to herself right then and there that nothing like that will ever happen again. She is not that girl. She will finish out this leg of the tour and go home with her pride intact and her head held high. Just one more month. She could do that.