ethereal [joe jonas]

chapter six

shoving my phone into my back pocket, i make my way over to joe's  room. i have no idea if he's sharing with his brothers or not. a couple minutes later and a few wrong turns, i take a deep breath and knock twice on the wooden door. "who is it?" a voice calls from inside- i think it's kevin, but i'm not sure. "it's elly!"  i say loudly so that i can be heard. i hear footsteps running towards the door and the door is swung open to reveal both kevin and joe standing in front of me. "kev, you were supposed to let me get the door" joe complains. his older brother just shakes his head in amusement as joe invites me in.

"hey guys" i smile, taking off my shoes and following them into the room. i immediately notice that it's far bigger than the one i'm sharing with my dad. it has the same layout with two queen beds, but there is a separate room to the side which has its door closed. "welcome to our home, elly. please have a seat" joe says formally, pulling a huge armchair, meant for two people, out for me. i roll my eyes at his attempt at being cheesy but i sit down anyway. kevin sits opposite me at the edge of the bed, and joe looks around. "do you mind?"

it takes a while for me realize he's asking if he can sit next to me. "sure!" i move over slightly and he sits down next to me. i try not to shift awkwardly but it's difficult when you have someone sitting that close to you. "what do you wanna do?" joe asks after a few seconds of awkward silence. "we can play uno" kevin says, and i must look pretty surprised because joe raises an eyebrow. "what?" he asks. "nothing, i just... i just always assumed celebrities played some fancy video games during their free time." kevin scoffs. "we aren't celebrities, we're just people who love what we do, and luckily, other people do too."

i smile a little as kevin stands up to go get the uno cards, leaving joe and i sitting together in silence. it's not exactly awkward, but it's strange. the whole start of the tour has already been strange and we haven't even actually gone to a concert venue yet. strange, but in a good way.

the silence is suddenly broken by my phone ringing. i pull out my phone and joe tries not to seem too interested in who's calling me. his eyes wander around the room, but i know he's stealing glances at my screen. i pick up the phone to see sam's caller id displayed there. i accept his face time call and i stand up, not wanting joe to listen in on our conversation. "i'll be right back" i mouth as i go to the other side of the room. joe nods and smiles, turning his attention to his own screen.

"ellyyyy" sam says once the connection is stable. "sammmm" i reply, giggling as he waves at me while trying to hold both his cup and phone at the same time. "how are you?" i ask him. he's probably just gotten off his work shift; he worked late and it was tiring for him. "i'm okay. i had a lot of patients today, but it's all good." he says dismissively. "how's tour?"

"it's not that bad, actually." i glance up as kevin comes out of the room carrying a pack of cards. it's the room which door was closed at first, and kevin quickly shuts it behind him. i can't help wondering why. "that's good, who are you on your with?" sam asks. i look across the room to see joe looking back at me; i knew he'd been listening in. "the jonas brothers."

there's a pause at the other side. "the jonas brothers... you mean the disney ones?" sam exclaims, and i see joe and kevin laughing when i look up. i smile. "yeah sam, the disney guys."

"that must be cool. too bad you can't actually talk to them. you never even get a chance to see any of the artists that you go on tour with." i look up in amusement as joe grins. ironically, i did get to talk to them. more than that, actually. i was in their room.

before i can say as much to sam, his doorbell rings. "elly, i gotta go, my food's here. talk to you tomorrow?"

i smile. "yeah, go get some rest. i love you." sam grins. "i love you too elly" i put the phone down and walk back to where kevin is dealing the cards. a few seconds later joe looks up from his phone. "was that your boyfriend?" he asks, and i almost laugh. "samuel? no, he's my brother." joe turns a little pink but he starts to laugh, and so do i. "how old is he?" kevin asks, shuffling the deck. "he's 23, he's working as a doctor so he works until pretty late." i say. "23? oh, he's the same age as nick." joe comments as the game starts. the mention of nick makes me take a glance around the room. "where's nick?" i question as my curiosity gets the better of me. joe glances at kevin before replying. "he's in there." joe says as he nods towards the closed door. oh. "oh, uh, i can totally go now if he wants to spend time with you guys." i say quickly, about to stand up. i wasn't about to let myself interrupt whatever time they wanted to spend together, i knew once tour started they'd all be really tired. 

"no that's not what i meant!" joe says. he seems flustered and so does kevin. i'm already standing so he pulls me back down onto the chair. "that's not what i meant. he's usually in there by himself anyway. sorry if it came across like that, i-" "no you're fine, don't worry" i assure him, wondering why joe got so worried over that. "nick's usually in there by himself, he likes to spend time alone." kevin clarifies, and i nod. i can sense that there's more to it but i don't push it. instead we play a couple rounds of uno, before putting on a movie. we talk and laugh and i'm honestly having a great time; both joe and kevin make me feel so comfortable around them. 

by the time it's eleven, we've finished two harry potter movies. "i should get going" i sigh, not wanting to leave yet. "we can always watch the movies another time" kevin says, and i only nod. i don't tell him that i didn't really care what we were doing, it was just fun to spend time together. "yeah, hopefully you guys have time when you're on tour. i'll see you tomorrow?" joe says, opening the door for me. i smile. "yeah, see you guys. we should grab breakfast together." kevin laughs, "oh yes, you'll witness joe's speed eating skills in real life." joe shoves his brother lightly and we all laugh as i put on my shoes. "want me to walk you back?" joe asks. "nah, i'll be fine. it's just a few floors down from here." i tell him, but he's already putting on his shoes. "that's okay, i'll go with you." he says. kevin laughs as he shuts the door and says goodnight. 

once we're by ourselves, we walk in silence for a while. "about nick," joe starts, then stops. it's like he's debating what to tell me and what not to say. "he's an introvert, which is surprising since he loves to perform. but don't take it too personally that he's not interested in talking to you, i'm sure he'll warm up eventually." "of course, i understand. i'm pretty introverted too." 

joe nods. "it's fun hanging out with you, elly. i'm glad you came" he says as we near the door. i smile. "me too, i thought it'd be like any other tour." i grimace at the thought and joe turns to me. "do you hate the other ones that much?" he asks, laughing. i want to say, "duh, i hate being dragged along by my dad who wants me to take over his company" but instead i just smile. "kinda" i reply. 

"oh, and one more thing? is elly your nick name?" joe asks. i turn to him in surprise. "how did you know?" i ask him, and he grins foolishly. "i'm right? it was just a guess. i heard you calling your brother sam on the phone but samuel when i asked if he was your boyfriend, so i just assumed you both had nicknames." i stare at him for a moment. "you're very observant." i say finally. he looks at me in amusement. "what?" i ask. 

"well, i think i should know your actual name since i figured this whole thing out." joe says proudly, and i roll my eyes. "fine. eliana" i say, and he smiles, satisfied. "you should get people to call you eliana" he says after a while. "it's a very pretty name." joe smiles and i can't help blushing a little, his hazel eyes, wavy hair and adorable smile is really getting to me. "thank you" i say as we reach the hotel door. 

"oh, and i have a sister, too. she's sam's twin. her name is ray, wanna guess her full name?" i say just as he's about to leave. for some reason i feel compelled to tell him more about me; i want to know more about him too. joe thinks for a minute. "rayanne?" he guesses, and i shake my head. "good guess though, but no. rayna" i say, and he laughs that adorable laugh of his. "your parents sure are good at picking names." he says as he leaves. "goodnight eliana" i can't help but blush again. the way he says my name leaves me with all sorts of feelings. good feelings. "goodnight joseph." 

my dad is sleeping so i quietly open the hotel door and creep in. i shut the door and sigh. what a day- yesterday, i'd never have believed anyone if they told me that in less than twenty four hours, i'd be in the same room as the jonas brothers, talking and having a great time- well two thirds of the jonas brothers. 

oh, and that joe jonas called me by my full name. joe. frikin. jonas.