It's the first post on our new site!! And new stuff for you! Isn't it soooo exciting! :D
-K.&M.
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Katie and I were having lunch on the coast. We had taken off for the weekend and hit the beach. The day was beautiful and the sea air flowed freshly around us.
Our laughter died down and Katie looked out over the ocean. “How are things with Joe?” she dropped a serious question.
“Oh. Like they’ll always be.” I said light-heartedly.
She smiled sadly at me. “Why do you do that?”
“What?”
Sighing she said, “Condemn things before they start.”
I didn’t understand. “Katie? What…?”
“What makes this how it will always be between you two?”
“Well… I don’t…” I looked down and almost whispered. “How could I ever have him?”
“You fell for him, why not the other way around?”
I stirred my straw around in my drink, brow furrowed. “And what would make him, the handsome famous rock-star, chose me, the normal everyday girl? That would be a fairytale.” I paused, “There is no such thing as a real life fairy tale.”
Katie softly smiled at me. “We’ll see.”
We dropped the topic and it didn’t come up the rest of the weekend.
--------
It hadn’t been more than a month since I had seen that picture, but things were looking up. My many small conversations with Katie had led me to realize I was crushing myself. I had to let that go.
I even had plans to see Joe. Nick and Kevin would be there too but that didn’t put a damper on the situation. Their tour had just ended and they were staying somewhere local for a while.
Katie came out of her bedroom. She was still in her pajamas and was rubbing her eyes, looking very surprised to see me dressed and ready to leave.
“Whereya goin’?” she mumbled with a sleep thickened tongue.
“I have a date with the Jonas boys, remember?”
“Oh yeah…” she plopped onto the couch. “K. See ya.”
Laughing to myself, I went to my car. I drove deep into town and stopped in front of a big building. The walls were beige and plane, with no windows. Glancing down at the paper in my hand I frowned. It was the right address, but I must have gotten something wrong because this was in no way what I was expecting. However, I parked my car and went to the front doors. There was a big red sign on the door that read ‘Tristan! Just come in… Follow the arrows.’
I was a bit concerned. Were they planning an ambush?
Taking a deep breath I walked into a plane looking lobby. There was an arrow pointing to my right. For a few minutes I followed arrows taking me down halls and up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs there was one last arrow, on the ground, pointing at a door straight ahead.
I stepped through the door and into the biggest laser-tag course I had ever seen. It was at least three stories of complex ramps, forts, and tunnels. It was complete madness.
“AHHHHHHH!!!!!”
All three boys came running out pointing big laser guns at each other, screaming. They started rolling around trying to avoid the others. I yelped as I was grabbed around the neck from behind. Oh, great. Now I was a human shield.
Joe whispered in my ear, “Come with me.”
Did I have a choice?
He dragged me into a small alcove with equipment hanging on the walls.
“Here,” He handed me a vest and gun. “Put these on.”
“What?” I looked at him.
He smiled. “Scared? Don’t worry; we’re going to play teams.”
I threw my bag up on a hook then I turned and smiled back. “Scared? Please. I think that’s a challenge.” I took the vest and strapped myself in quickly, looking like an expert. Then I reached over and took the gun.
“Whose team am I on?”
Flashing his glowing white teeth, his smile grew as he said, “Mine.”
“Great.” I smiled back, slyly. “Let’s go.”
I ran from the small room and slid in behind a wall into a passageway. Joe’s laughter echoed off the walls as he followed. When I reached a hidden corner I paused, slinging my gun as I tied up my hair. “Game plan?” I asked as Joe came up next to me.
“Other than to cream my brothers? Not really.”
“Humm…” I glanced around and down through a barred window next to me. From the corner of my eye I saw movement. Pushing my back against the wall, I slid into a crouch just as lasers shot through the air where I was standing. Suddenly I was extremely glad to not be wearing any white. That would really give us away in the black-lights. I pulled Joe down next to me quickly.
“Well, that was close.” Joe said, wide eyed.
I smiled at him and laughed to myself. “Ok. We’re going to have to split up.” Slowly I slid back up the wall just enough to see down through the window.
If I was right, Nick was on the left hiding behind a pillar and Kevin was laying at the base of a wall, both pointing their guns up at us. I slid back down and turned to Joe. “You go down the ramp that way. At the bottom, count to ten and I’ll cover you. Go from there. I’ll go down that way after I cont to fifty. Ok?”
There was some shock in Joe’s eyes but he was happy with the plan.
“Ready?” I said, pulling my gun from my side.
He nodded and rocked onto the balls of his feet, ready to run.
“Go!” He was fast and at the end of the ramp in no time. I started the ten-count and stood, gun ready and aimed down.
As the boys changed position to shoot at Joe I took aim. I hit Nick on the shoulder and he buzzed out for thirty seconds. Kevin took aim at me as soon as Nick went down but Joe had my back and hit him square on the chest.
We spent about half an hour running around the maze, chasing each other, hitting and missing, and mostly just having fun. Suddenly a loud buzzer sounded and the lights came on. I took that as the signal to head back to the entrance. Joe was already their when I reached the entry way. He smiled and winked at me as Kevin and Nick came running out of separate tunnels. All of us were out of breath and Kevin leaned forward and put his hands on his knees.
“That’s not fair!” Kevin panted, “You never told us she was good at this!”
“I didn’t know.” Joe said, his eyes still on me. I found myself staring back.
“Well, not to break up this little love fest,” Nick said sarcastically. “But I need to test, so let’s go.” He pushed past Joe, breaking his stair.
We hung up our equipment and I grabbed my bag. Once back in the normal part of the building, the boys lead me to a lobby like room where most of their stuff was.
I saw a familiar black pouch on the couch and was not surprised to see Nick plop down next to it and start taking out his meter.
Kevin saw me watching Nick and must have felt the urge to explain. “You see, Nick has to test…”
I cut him off. “The level of glucose in his blood. The exercise may have made him go all wako. He may need to correct.”
All three had their eyes on me, their mouths hanging open a bit.
I looked around at them. “What?”
“How do you know all that? I mean… like, well?” Nick was defiantly shocked.
“Are you diabetic too?” Joe’s voice was almost panic stricken, like he had over looked an important part of me during one of our many conversations.
Smiling and laughing softly I shook my head. “No. My best friend, Katie, the one I live with, well she is diabetic. So I’ve been around it and I know a bit.” I folded my arms behind my back and rocked up on my toes.
“Oh.” Joe sighed in relief.
Nick just smiled and went back to testing.
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Later that same day….
I was standing on the roof of that strange beige building. It was lunchtime and I could see people coming and going from buildings all around. My fear of heights kept my back a ways from the edge but I was not freaking out yet.
Joe walked out to the rail then turned around and looked at me. He leaded back on the railing. “So. Are you having a good time?” He asked.
“Ya. Great really.” I looked away; a bit embarrassed that he was looking at me. I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “Nothing better than being surprised and plunged into a brother war.” I smiled sarcastically.
Joe laughed. He looked at me and sighed. “You know…”
I looked back at him.
“You’re pretty different…”
“Um. Different. Is that supposed to be a complement?” I raised an eye brow. “I like it.”
He laughed again. “You’re different that most girls I’ve met.”
My brow furrowed. “Is that good or bad?” I was still being sarcastic but
Joe took that more seriously.
“Defiantly good.” He smiled. “I’ve been wondering if you’d like to go out some time? Just you and me.”
I was taken back. Was he asking me out? Like, on a date? A smile played at my lips and I brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “Well, ya.” I said shyly.
His smile reached his eyes and made them sparkle in the most breath taking way.
“Alright.” He said. “So. How’s tomorrow night?”
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It had been three months since the concert, since Robert Pattinson, Robert freaking Pattinson, had asked for my number after I almost killed him and I hadn’t heard from him or anyone else. Every other time the phone rang I expected to hear monotony, nasally voice saying, “Miss Katie Katelyn Nicole. I’m representing Mr. Robert Pattinson and am suing you for the value of one million souls. See you in court!” And he’d hang up without waiting for an answer.
One evening, Tristan was out on her first date with Joe Jonas, yes the Joe Jonas, the irony is amazing, and the phone rang.
Instantly I felt that this was the call for me, one way or another, and I stared at the phone in horror over the top of the couch. After the third ring I forced myself to get up. I swallowed hard as I pressed the talk button and put the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” I asked, amazed that I could speak.
“Hi, is um...Katie there?” his accent echoed in my ear.
“Yes...this is her.” I managed to say. “Hi.”
Robert let out a small chuckle, “Hey.” he greeted me again.
There was a pause, was I supposed to say hi again?
“Do you know who this is?” he asked.
“I think I could take a pretty good guess.” I laughed almost sarcastically.
Another pause, I thought my head was going to explode.
“You didn't think I was going to call, did you?”
“Not really. I thought I might have gotten your lawyer though.” Why did I say that?
This made him laugh out loud and I closed my eyes, I was starting to feel a little queasy. I went and slowly lowered myself onto the couch with my hand on my forehead.
“How old are you?” he asked. Were we starting twenty questions?
“Eighteen.” I answered.
“Really?” I could hear his eyes widen, “I thought you were much older than that.”
“Sorry. I get that a lot; I do look older than I really am.” Was that bad?
“No, it wasn't that you looked older, you just seemed older. More mature actually.”
I felt myself blush, “Thank you.”
Was he trying to be nice, or did he really get that out of the few minutes that we had met?
Silence.
“So, what have you been doing?” I asked.
From there the conversation went as those who were acquaintances. I had finally hung up the phone seconds before Tristan walked in the door.
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Katie looked up from her laptop as I walked into the front room. “Wow. You look good. You went all out, the hair, the make-up, the clothes, the whole nine yards…”
I was wearing dark denim pants, a long hot pink shirt under a black cropped jacket, and black shoes. My hair was straitened and I had spent a bit more time on my make-up. I smiled. “Well, it is our first date…”
“You look great. Really.” She smiled. “Are you gonna carry your black purse?”
I laughed. “Ya.” I held it up.
Just then the doorbell rang.
Katie sat up straighter. “Oh! What’s he wearing?”
“Come to the door with me and find out…”
“I can’t come to the door! It’s your first date! Gosh, what are you thinking?” Katie rolled her eyes at me and breathed out heavily.
“Suit yourself.” I turned and then started to laugh as a thought entered my head. “Or…” I turned back to Katie, a smile dancing across my face. “You could watch through the front window as we walk out. I could get him to turn around…”
Katie nearly fell off the couch with laughter. She jumped up and ran to peek through the blinds.
I turned and walked to the door. My hand lay on the door handle for a few seconds as I roused up the nerves to open the door. Was this going to be weird? Would it be different going on a date with him?
The door opened to a happy faced Joe. He had on dark denim, black button-up jacket over a white muscle shirt, black sneakers, and a dark grey scarf hung loosely around his neck. We sort of matched.
His eyes sparkled and his face lit up as he looked at me. “Wow.”
I furrowed my brow and looked down at myself. “What? Did I forget to wear pants or something? You people keep saying that.”
“No. You look great.” He took a step back. “Shall we?”
As we walked to his car I suddenly remembered Katie at the window and my smile grew bigger. I looked to the sky and pointed up. “Look a shooting star. Make a wish.” With my arm I traced an arch through the sky ending somewhere behind the house. We were now both facing the front window.
“Hum.” He said. “I must have missed it. But I still know what my wish is.”
I blushed as I felt his eyes on me and I slowly met his gaze. He had the most amazing chocolate brown eyes and they left me breathless.
“Let’s go.” He said.
We drove to a rather large Mexican restaurant. There was a large second story terrace with tables.
Joe looked over at me as he put the car in park and turned off the ignition. “Is this ok?”
I smiled, “Great.”
We got out and I started to walk towards the main entrance. Joe put his hand on my arm and my skin burned under his fingers. He smiled, “Not that way.”
He led me around the back of the building and to a small staircase. We reached the landing and Joe knocked three times on the door. Quickly it was opened and I was ushered in to an empty restaurant with Joe close behind me. A waiter led us out onto the terrace and to the only table that was set.
It was in the middle of the terrace. A single candle flickered in the center of the table next to a single red rose bud.
The night sky sparkled with stars. It was amazingly beautiful. My heart pounded in my chest and I had to force myself to breathe. Then I felt the warmth of a body right behind me.
“Do you like it?” Joe asked quietly.
I could hardly get out a muffled “Yes.”
We took our seats across from each other and opened our menus. I looked over it and quickly located something I would like then I sat it down and crossed my arms.
“You picked already?” Joe raised an eye brow and smiled at me.
“Well, I’m a picky eater and I know what I like and what I don’t.”
Now that I was with Joe, I had no worries about the date being awkward. I was just so comfortable around him.
“So how did you manage this?” I said, gesturing to everything around us.
“Well when you’re a big time pop-star…” He smiled. “No. I was joking. We know the owner. I called him yesterday and he offered to shut down the top floor for us.”
I smiled at Joe as I watched his face. I watched how his jaw clenched every once in a while when he spoke. The candle light danced over his face and I really wanted to reach across the table and touch his check, but I resisted.
The waiter came and took Joe’s order, then he took mine. When he left
Joe surprised me by saying “Yes!”
My eye brows furrowed. “What?”
“You eat!”
“Yeah… most humans do…”
He laughed. “No. I mean you eat food. You’re not the kind of girl who goes out on a date and orders a salad.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I have never got that. Why fake how you really eat. If you like the person you’ll sure end up eating a lot of salads. And besides…” I clasped my hands in front of me. “I don’t really like salad. I have this whole weird thing with lettuce and its texture…”
We talked all trough dinner. The conversation varied from what food we liked and didn’t to our favorite TV shows. Many of the things we said brought us to laughter. It was a fun meal.
After dinner we walked back out to Joe’s car. He stopped a bit before we actually got to the car and said, “So, I was thinking we could go for a walk. Around the city. It’s late enough that no one will see us. What do you think?”
This must mean it was going well.
“That sounds fun. Come on.” I playfully skipped out of the parking lot and started walking down the street.
“Hey! Wait for me!” Joe called as he caught up.
There was no were in particular we were going, we were just walking around and talking. We had fun window shopping and joking around. I would skip ahead to a store and Joe would briskly trot after me.
At one store the big clock in the window read 10:30pm. Joe glanced at the clock and sighed. “I should probably get you home now, huh?”
I half smiled. “Ya. It’s getting a bit late.”
We started back to the car. It had gotten kind of clod out and I couldn’t stop a shiver from running through me. Joe must have saw this because the next thing I knew he was draping his jacket around my shoulders.
“Joe no!” I looked at him. “All you have on is that t-shirt. You’ll freeze!”
He smiled at me. “I’ll be fine. And besides, the car is right around this corner.”
I didn’t argue. He was being a gentleman, for one, and I really didn’t mind how warm the jacket was.
I wrapped myself tight in his jacket and took a deep breath. His sent was heavy on it. The smell was intoxicating.
When we got home the clock in Joe’s car read 11:30. It was late and I wasn’t sure if Katie would still be waiting up. I knew she would want to be, but I expected to find her past out on the couch. She had been so tiered lately.
Joe got out and walked me to the door.
“Thank you.” I said turning around to face him on my door step. I hadn’t realized how close he was and my breath caught in my throat.
He smiled down at me. “I had a great time.”
“Me too.” I weakly remarked.
“Want to do this again some time?” His voice was layered with joy and excitement.
“Yeah. I do.”
“Kay. I’ll call you then.” Before I knew what was going on Joe bent down and pressed his lips to my cheek. “Goodnight.” His breath was warm on my skin.
As he turned and walked quickly back to his car I fell back against the door. My head was light and a strange fire burned where his lips had been. My heart faltered, then beat quickly. It felt as if I was going to faint.
Then I remembered I needed air.
Fumbling with the handle I finally got the door open and half fell into the hall way.
I heard sifting on the couch. “Tristan?”
Walking around the corner I found Katie sitting contently. The phone was next to her, meaning she must have been on it not too long ago.
Her eyes shone with interest. “Nice jacket.” She commented.
“Oh shoot!” I looked down to find I still had on Joe’s jacket. “I forgot to give it back.”
“I take it it went well then?”
“Oh ya.” I smiled.
“Tell me!”
I spent at least the next half hour recounting the highlights of my date to Katie. She loved the details about the restaurant.
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Joe and I were walking across the set through an area that no one needed to be in. It was the fastest way back from the Jamba Juice on the corner.
“This is really good!” Joe mumbled through a mouth full of some kind of pomegranate smoothie.
I smiled over at him. Using my shoulder I nudged him and reached over.
“Give me that.” I said pulling his smoothie from his hand and quickly taking a drink.
He smiled and looked at me. “You’re drinking after me?”
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Ya… You’re not diseased are you?” I mocked.
He looked at me, his eyes sparkling with wonder. “No. I just…” He laughed and shook his head. “Most girls I know wouldn’t share a drink with me on the third date. Not unless I’ve kissed them anyway.”
I tried to hide the fact that my throat had constricted and some smoothie was stuck. To hide the cough I let out a laugh. “Haven’t I already proved that I’m not most girls you know? And it’s not like I’m sticking my tongue in your mouth.”
He laughed as I handed him back his smoothie and took a drink of mine.
“Well that’s not fair. You tried mine.” He grabbed the strawberry smoothie from me, pulling the straw from my mouth in the process. “I want to try yours.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged happily as we walked along. “Besides all of that, this isn’t our third date. It’s our second.”
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I felt like I was twelve years old as I stood in front of the mirror. I was wearing a plain t-shirt, knee-long skirt, and flats.
“Tristan!” I called panicked still staring at myself, poking at the top layer of my hair that was pulled back in a style that I called “Legalos hair.”
“What?!” She called startled peeking her head around the doorframe.
“I look like I'm in middle school!” My voice dripped with horror.
She came and stood behind me with her hands on her hips. “That is a problem.” she agreed.
She appraised me a moment longer then dove into my closet. When she emerged she had my nice cream sweater shirt and slacks in her arms.
“Ah! That's perfect!” I jumped and threw my arms around her. “You're amazing. Like always.” I then kissed the side of her head.
She laughed, “Yeah, I know. Now hurry and get them on he'll be here any minute!”
As my unofficial personal stylist she always knew how to fix these sorts of things.
“Leave the flats.” she added as she went out the door.
I quickly put on the pants and slipped the sweater over my head as the doorbell rang.
A knot instantly appeared in my stomach making me want to scream to release it.
“Hair!” Tristan whispered panically as she ran to open the door.
I tugged out the hair tie and hung my hair upside down shaking it a little and then flipping it back up to give it a little more volume.
Tristan opened the door and eyed me. I grabbed my purse and walked toward her frightened out of my wits. She giggled and handed me my PDM.
“Thanks.” I said and walked passed her.
Robert stood in the doorway with a black button up t-shirt and nice pants. He was smiling softly.
“Hello.” he said once I stood in front of him.
“Hello.” I answered with a little smile.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I'm going to get.” I said with a sigh.
He chuckled slightly as I turned around and hugged Tristan.
“Bye Mom.” I said sarcastically.
Everyone laughed.
“Don't be late or you'll be grounded.” she teased back.
I laughed again. “Bye.”
I closed the door behind me and faced Robert on the dimly lit porch.
He flashed a grin and then turned around and walked toward a dark blue Mustang.
“Hungry?” he asked as I followed behind him.
“I guess so.” I answered.
“You need to be sure.” he said as he opened the passenger door for me.
“Thank you.” I mumbled, blushing as I got in.
He got in the driver’s side a few moments later and began to back out.
“So, are you hungry or not?” he asked again.
“Well, I haven't had dinner.” I answered shyly.
“That's all I need to hear.”
He took us to a small casual restaurant and we sat at a table for two facing each other. The waitress brought us water and her eyes fell on Robert as she was about to speak. It took her a moment to say anything.
She got a hold of herself and handed us our menus and left us to contemplate our orders.
Once she left I took two of the small sugar packs from the center of the table and began to pour them into my water.
“What are you doing?” Robert asked eyebrows furrowed, but still with an amused expression.
I glanced up at him, but didn't stop what I was doing as I answered.
“Putting sugar in my water.”
“Do you always do that?”
“When I go out to a restaurant. Don't you?” I laid the empty packets on the table and began to stir the water with my straw watching the small crystals swirl and dance.
“Not usually.” he answered.
“It keeps me hungry for my food instead of filling me.” I added.
“Really?” he pondered then reached out and took three packets, ripping off all of the tops at once and poured them all in at the same time. He stirred it up for a moment as I sipped mine, then took a long drink. Once he put the glass down he swallowed.
“Interesting.” he speculated.
I had a tight smile on my face trying not to laugh then hid behind my menu. A choked giggle escaped and that made him laugh. My chest warmed at the sound.
The waitress returned and we gave her our orders resisting the urge to giggle every few seconds.
We talked like we always did as we waited for our food and I was feeling very self conscious as he watched my every movement. My own eyes darted around when I found myself looking at him for too long.
The waitress brought us our plates, we thanked her and Robert took his first bite as I stared at my plate.
He swallowed. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” I answered without looking up. “I'm just trying to figure out the carbs.”
“Oh.” he said. “Shouldn't the chef know that information?”
“In theory.” I was really not sure of the numbers.
“Then I'll go ask.” he stood and started to walk passed me.
“No!” I said and reached out for his hand to stop him.
His hand burned in mine and an electric shock went up my arm resting in my chest, but it wasn't painful.
He looked at me with slight shock on his face.
“It's okay. I've got it covered.” I said.
I quickly let go of his hand and let it fall. He went back to his seat looking at me with a worried expression.
“If you...say so.” he said hesitantly.
As we ate the awkwardness died down and I found myself feeling very comfortable with him. He really did seem down to earth.
We talked and laughed sometimes a little too loud. There were plenty of people around us and a part of me knew they were staring, but I didn't really notice enough to care.
We pulled in front of mine and Tristan’s place and I bit my lip not wanting the night to be over yet.
He opened my door and as we walked I kept my hands in front of me, clutching my bag, his were in his pockets and he kept his eyes to the ground. I stepped onto the porch hesitantly and he stayed one step behind. I turned back around intending to smile at him, but his eyes were still on the ground.
I bit my lip again. “Umm…”
Robert’s eyes finally shot up.
“Thank you.” I stammered.
His eyebrows rose. “Oh. No, thank you. I had a…good time. I hope…you did.”
“Yeah.” I answered a little too quickly. “Yes, I did…thank you.”
I sounded like an idiot and I realized at that moment that I really had no idea what I was doing.
We were silent again and a part of me wanted to scream out a little.
“Umm…” I said again.
He looked up again.
“Call me?” I asked.
“Oh. Yeah. I will.” He answered quickly.
“Okay.” I said with a finality and a smile. I turned the doorknob and he began to walk away.
I put one foot in the door when his hand gently touched my arm.
It was that burning again and I could have sworn my heart stopped.
I looked back at him to see his eyes, closer and brighter than I expected, a small, sort of cocky smile on his face.
“Goodnight.” He said.
If I wasn’t already frozen by his hand on my arm, I’m sure I would have shuddered.
It seemed like an eternity before I could form words.
“You…too.”
He stretched his smile a little wider before turning around again and going to his car.
I cautiously closed the door behind me once I was inside.
I frowned. Was my heart racing? Why couldn’t I breathe right?
It must be nerves. I decided.
It had been my first real date after all.
Just nerves…
I looked out the window just in time to see the tail lights of his car disappear around the corner.
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There is more to come. :D
-K.&M.
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