Paris from the balcony – S/F (Joseph and you are in Paris, and you get back to the hotel room after a night out at the club.)
Surprises – R/S/F (Joseph is overworked, so you surprise him with a trip to Rome, where – unbeknownst to you – he’s planning on proposing to you.)
Birthday boy – R/S/F (On Joseph’s birthday you surprise him by going to disco bowling, then having dinner and at home you surprise him with plane tickets. Also, birthday sex ofc.)
Rumors – R/F (You wear one of Joseph’s blazers to a dinner and the ST fans put the puzzle together.)
The pattern of his skin – R/S (You leave a love bite on Joseph’s neck and he has an event to attend.)
When craving warmth - S/F (After a long day, you have slow, needy sex with soft!Joe, with a little teasing..)
The madness of law – F/R (Studying gets overwhelming for you and Joe comforts and reassures you.)
Caught in the act – S/F (You wake up from a wet dream, but Joe’s asleep, so you have to take care of yourself. You end up in the shower, where he catches you in the act.)
Series:
(I Just) Died In Your Arms
Part I – R/A/S (Joseph and you are best friends and on a weekend trip (with other members of the ST cast) you sleep together. Since you just got out of a relationship, you’re confused about your feelings.)
Part II – A (After that weekend, the group reunites, angst ensues between Joe and you. )
Part III – A/S
————————————
Feedbacks are greatly appreciated, thank you for reading my stories <3
Bro literally every muscle in my body tensed for this 😮💨 I need it, you need it, the WORLD needs it
You were a heaving mess on top of a bundle of sheets which had matted up underneath you from the amount of intense squirming you had undertaken for the last couple of hours. Joe had his face planted firmly been between your thighs making you beg for mercy under his cursive touch, every muscle in your body was shaking, every thought in your brain banished left by a thick cloud of air which had been brought on by multiple orgasms.
Joe was covered in your slick. His nose, mouth and chin glistening from the bedroom light when he looked up to get a view of your bedazzled and most beautiful features, the beautiful look where you were about to cum, the look he swore he loved to see the most. He had always vowed that when he was going down on you, he wasn't about to waste the opportunity; tonight certainly wasn't to be one of those times.
You were crying out from the passionate sting that tensed itself around your clit, it burned more and more with each circular movement of Joe's tongue that made you twitch every time he hit a certain sweet spot. Your back arched as you reached your fourth orgasm. Three fingers messily moved across your bud as you let out a chanting screech mixed with his name and several profanities. Nothing could prepare you for the mess that escaped you, squirting out directly into Joe's mouth as he let it leak out onto the sheets below him. A wicked smirk and deep, gravelly chuckle made you shiver right from the top of your spine and down to the bottom. He made you feel this way, need this way, want this way.
Joe lifted himself up slight to view the chaos that had erupted from down below, licking his lips to fill his taste buds with more of you, the twinkle in his darkened pupils cried out with lust.
"“So good for me, look at how much you came.” He whimpered, placing a hand which briefly caressed your ass cheeks, leaving your already sensitised skin feeling on fire. Flattening his palm against the dampened bedding, he revealed his inner hand up toward you and bit his lip, making a brief cooing sound.
"Had enough my darling?"
You had entered back into the realm of reality when you heard the noise coming from Joe's mouth, not particularly the words he said clearly.
"Hmm?" You hummed from pure exhaustion.
"I said, have you had enough?" He moved himself up to cage his body over you, his face meeting yours inches away, slanting down to place a firm kiss against your lips, your tongue automatically sampling yourself.
"That depends. Have you had enough?" You batted your eye lashes towards your man, his eyebrows raising in disbelief that you were challenging him further.
Leaning his lips towards your ear, you shuddered at his final response "I could go all night." He whispered.
Summary: After that weekend, the group reunites, angst ensues between Joe and you.
Warnings: angst, no smut in this one
Word count: 3.1k
A/N: Soo…it’s been a while since inspiration and I have hung out, but it happened eventually!! :) This is not the final part of our journey, probably part III will be.
Winter soon arrived to London with heavy snow and a low temperature. The sound of the fresh snow crunching under boots followed people's steps everywhere, as the festive lights lead the way alongside with the street lamps in the darkening late afternoon hours.
You were on your way to Jamie and Jess's house to have an early Christmas celebration with the others. As a few of you are going to be out of town for the holidays, the friend group figured you could have an early celebration and play the game of Secret Santa. On a night out you wrote your names on small pieces of paper, put it in a baseball hat and everyone picked one. Praying you wouldn't grab that name, you were quite relieved when you saw 'Jess' written in black ink.
"Hey, come in." Jamie opened the door with a wide smile on his face.
"Hi. This is for the hosts." You held up a bottle of wine with a red bow in it.
"You didn't have to. Thank you." He gestured to the wine.
He helped you take your coat off and after removing your shoes as well, you walked to the living room where the others were already deep in conversation.
"Hey." You placed the present under the tree. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing, don't worry." Maya smiled as you sat beside her on the couch. Your eye scanned the room, but stilled on something.
On someone.
He already had his eyes on you, but looked away when your stares met. You hadn't seen Joe for the past two months.
In practice, avoiding him was actually easier than you'd thought. Majority of the group got busy with work, – including yourself – so the group chat hadn't been the liveliest. Since that weekend the group had hung out maybe three or four times, most of those occasions declined by you, expect for one; when he declined before you had the chance to.
Theoretically though, it was way harder. He wandered through your mind multiple times every day – the longest time you spent without having him on your mind wasn't more that just a couple hours. At this point he was living in your head. Sometimes, when you thought about it too much, it felt torturous, but a part of you had convinced yourself that you deserved it for rejecting him.
"Everyone's here now, so..how about we open gifts?" Jamie suggested as he walked back into the living room.
Everyone picked up the box that had the little paper with their name on it and sat back down. Wrapping paper was all over the floor in no second as everybody was curious to see what it was hiding. When you took your box in your hands, you noticed the small tag hanging from it saying 'From: Jess'.
"What's the chance? I'm also your Secret San..." You look up at Jess, only to see a different box in her hands from the one you brought. Your eyes scanned the room for the box wrapped in the red Santa hats covered paper. When your gaze caught it, you realised, the pattern of the little hats was being torn – slowly and hesitantly – by hands a little too familiar.
His hands.
Joseph had your gift.
The box with black, fluffy handcuffs and a blindfold in it was in Joe's hands.
By the time you realised what was happening in front of your eyes, it was too late. His head shot up, the confused stare of wide, rounded eyes burning into yours as he saw what was inside the box. The shade of your face started to grow the same as the colour of the santa hats.
"Hm?" Jess looked up as she heard your voice. She saw the uneasy look on your face and followed your eyes.
"That's supposed to be Jess' gift, I'm her Secret Santa, not yours!" You tried to stay as calm as possible.
"It says my name on it." He held up the paper.
"No, it says Jess!"
"No, I got Jess." You heard Maya's voice.
"It literally says 'Joe' on it!" Joseph handed you the small note that quickly became your enemy in a few seconds; it was responsible for this awkward situation.
"That's Jess." You murmured as arguing seemed easier, rather than to just accept the fact that you had actually been Joe's secret Santa all along.
"It says Joe, that's an 'o' and an 'e' at the end!" He followed the line of the pen on the paper, drawing the letters with his finger, growing more and more annoyed with the situation.
"Since when do you have such a messy handwriting? Couldn't you just write 'Joseph'?!" You sighed.
"It's not my fault you can't read three fucking letters!" He stood from the couch.
"Woah, it's okay, calm down." Jamie said as everyone else was too stunned to speak. "You misread his name, it's no big deal. Don't loose your mind over it...Nice gift, by the way." He wiggled his eyebrows with a small laugh, trying to ease the thick tension hanging in the air.
"It's..fuck...I was sure it said 'Jess'."
"Maybe you just wanted it to have 'Jess' on it." He scoffed with annoyance written all over his face.
"What is your problem?" You snapped at his attitude.
"What's my problem? What's yours?!"
"Okay, enough! Go outside and talk it out or stop it. It was supposed to be just a nice gesture, don't take it so bloody seriously for fuck's sake."
You and Joseph just eyed each other for a couple seconds, before he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lighter from the coffee table and stormed outside, leaving you with prying looks as everyone sat in silence, not daring to move.
"I'll talk to him." Jamie walked to the front door, grabbing his own and Joseph's coat before heading outside, following him.
"What was that?" He stood next to him and held the coat open for Joseph.
"Nothing."
"Well it was quite a big scene for nothing." He humphed. "Seriously, what's the matter? You've been weird ever since she got here."
"I'm just tired."
"Don't bullshit me. What is it? You like her, so why'd you snap at her like that?" Jamie examined his face, only guessing what could have been causing so much tension.
"We, uh...we slept together." Muttered Joseph barely audibly as he sighed, his thumb and ring finger pinching the bridge of his nose as he held the cigarette between his pointing and middle finger.
"No shit." Said Jamie, unsurprised.
"What? How do you know?"
"Oh, c'mon. Even the blind can see something happened between you two."
"Do you think the others know?"
"I have no idea. I didn't say anything to anyone, so...when did it happen?"
"Uh, remember the weekend we spent at that house?"
"You two did it while Jess and I were on the other side of the wall? Seriously?"
"Well, not exactly.."
"My goodness..where?"
"The kitchen.." Mumbled Joe.
"You're kidding, right? In the kitchen? Where we had fucking breakfast?" He chuckled in disbelief, but his face dropped when he realised. "That's why you were there when I went downstairs!"
"Well, kind of..yeah."
"And what happened then? What went wrong?"
"Well..the following day we talked about it. I asked if there could ever be more between us." He stopped and sighed.
"And she..?"
"Said we should just forget it." He said as he ashed the cigarette, remembering how much those words stung when he heard them fall from your lips. Jamie hissed in empathy, only imagining how his best friend must have felt.
"Have you talked ever since that?"
"Yeah, a few minutes ago." He huffed.
They stood in silence, just listening to the busy streets of London as the cold winter air started to creep under their clothes – almost like it was trying to get under their skin, all the way to their bones.
"Let's go back inside. I'm fucking freezing."
"What do I do? I can't just go back in and act like nothing happened."
"You're going to apologise for snapping at her like that and tell them that you're just tired."
The atmosphere shifted from awkward to painfully awkward when Joe and Jamie came back inside, everyone staying silent, unsure about what to say, or do.
"Sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm just really tired." He glanced at your for a second before sitting down across from you, rather avoiding eye contact.
"It's okay." A quiet sigh escaped from you. "I'm sorry for misreading the paper."
" 'S okay." He muttered.
"Tired, eh? You had a long night?" Keery looked at Joe with a grin on his face.
The previous night some of the boys payed a visit to the group's favourite pub. Joseph sent a text to the group chat last minute, in the late evening. He just had a shit day and wanted to blow some steam off before spending a whole day around you with the endless tension. He did chat with a blondie but he found her to be rather tiring with all the talking; chitchatting with her was the last thing on his mind. He ended up leaving the pub alone, with a failed mission.
"What? No, nothing like that." Joe shook his head, not really feeling like having a conversation of that type.
"What happened to that blondie?"
"Nothing happened. It's a long story."
"You kidding me? She was all over you!"
"Whatever." Joe tried cutting the conversation short.
A nasty feeling creeped up on you suddenly by the thought of Joe flirting with other girls and even taking them home possibly. Jealousy flashed its green eyes at you, leaving you frustrated due to not really being able to do anything about it.
Two months have passed since that weekend, during which you were able to think things through. You started reminiscing about your friendship and how you always got along so well with him. Before Jason came along, you actually almost thought you had started liking Joseph, but the thought of possibly ruining your friendship scared you. But now here you were, and the more time passed without seeing him or talking to him, the more you missed him. And now that he was here in front of you, you wanted nothing more than to apologise to him. All evening you looked for moments to get him alone, unsuccessfully. During dinner he sat the furthest away from you, he avoided any interaction with you, which left you somewhat confused and hurt. It might've been cruel to decline him on that weekend, but did it really hurt him so bad?
Everything became suffocating and frustrating all of the sudden and you needed a minute alone.
"I'll be right back." You got up and walked out of the living room, to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. After closing the door behind you, you were met with your reflection in the mirror, which looked different than when you left your home. It was care-worn and anxious now, your thoughts written on your face. You were surprised nobody pointed it out. Deciding to take your mind off the topic for the rest of the night, you took a deep breath.
Upon exiting the bathroom you saw Joseph putting on his shoes and taking his coat from the rack.
"You're leaving already?" Your voice startled him.
"Uh..yeah. I have to..good night."
"Good night." You said hesitantly.
He stilled and looked at you before he walked out and the front door closed behind him with a soft click. Your mind didn't even have time to process what you were doing, and before you knew it, you already had your shoes on, reaching for the doorknob, following Joseph.
"Joe!" You saw him standing in the snow, mid-conversation, facing in the direction of the corner of the front porch, where Jamie stood, smoking. Joe's eyes examined you as you were looking at Jamie.
Your common sense caught up to you, immediately starting to curse at you for going after him.
All three of you stood in silence for a few seconds, just waiting for something to happen. Jamie ended up moving first. He put out his cigarette and walked to the front door, nodded at Joe encouragingly and went inside. Your eyes rested on the freshly fallen snow covering everything, before eventually looking at Joe who stared at you with a surprised, awaiting expression.
"I'm sorry." You barely recognised your voice, it sounded so unsure as all the courage had left you, the sudden rush of adrenaline dying down, letting the freezing temperature slowly get to you.
"You just misread my name, I'll live." He shrugged his shoulders, a tad uncomfortable in the situation.
"No, not that. I'm sorry for saying that we should just forget what happened..between us."
He didn't say anything, just nodded, unamused – not exactly the reaction you expected, so you continued. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I really didn't regret it, but it still feels somewhat wrong. I didn't intend to make you feel used…you weren't a rebound."
"Then what was I?" He asked, clearly hurt.
"I don't know, but definitely not just a rebound. Listen, I'm not ready for any sort of romantic commitment yet." It got quiet for a few moments before you carried on, with a voice barely above a whisper. "I miss you. I miss us being best friends."
"And what do you want me to say to that?" He huffed.
"I don't know." You said quietly, completely regretting coming after him now.
"Is there anything you know?" Mockery and disbelief was dripping from his tone, making you feel small, and more embarrassed and frustrated than ever.
"You know what I know? I know that I fucked up and I hurt you, but after two months of avoiding each other I'm standing here, apologising. I said sorry, sincerely, and I also know that in this very moment you're being a jackass!"
"Me, a jackass?!" His eyebrows almost met his hairline in disbelief.
"Yeah, because I'm saying sorry and feeling bad for hurting you and you can't accept my fucking apology! What else could I say to make you believe I truly am sorry?! I never thought you'd get so caught up in this."
"Of course I'm gonna get caught up in this! Just when I finally feel like I might have a chance with you, you reject me!"
"What's that even supposed to mean?"
"It means that I've liked you for fucking ages, for fuck's sake! And I understand that you were confused and the last thing I wanted to do was forcing myself upon you, but you also have to understand that this isn't easy for me! I tried getting over you, but I see you in every woman I talk to!"
You were stunned, to say the least. Silence settled between you – the kind that makes you feel like you're walking on very thin ice.
"You liked me?"
"Of course I did!" He threw his arms in the air in disbelief. "I do."
"Since when? And why didn't you say anything?!"
"For about a year now. And I was gonna tell you.."
"When?"
"When you introduced fucking Jason to us! I was going to make a move on you that night."
You truly didn't know what to say or do at this point. Your thoughts were racing as the eye contact never broke between you two.
"So what now?"
"What now?" He reciprocated your question. "You're flying home for Christmas, I guess?"
"I am." You nodded.
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow, in the early afternoon. I'm coming back on the 28th."
At that moment it felt like everything that had to be, was said. You just stood there, your eyes wandering from each other to the landscape. You both waited for the other to say something, neither of you truly wanting to say goodbye yet.
"I um..I have to wake up early tomorrow." His voice sounded eventually. "So..take care. And get inside, it's freezing."
"Take care."
"Good night."
You said goodbye to him before he got into his car. Your eyes followed the taillights of his car with an upset, distressed gaze. You were truly hoping this tension filled situation would come to an end finally. With a heavy heart you walked back inside, only now noticing the cruelly low temperature outside.
You didn't sleep so much throughout the night. His words kept you awake as you replayed them in your head on an endless loop. The more you remembered him saying he liked you, the more it warmed your heart and made you feel excited. Regret and shame filled every part of your body for doing all of this to him, for creating such a mess – even though you never intended to.
As you were packing your suitcases in the early morning, you were secretly hoping – not even admitting it to yourself – that Joe would show up. The sound of your doorbell – which you usually absolutely despised as it always stressed you out when hearing it – was all you wanted to hear. It would've been the sweetest sound at that very moment.
Actually, you were sure at this point you had forgotten to pack something, but you couldn’t be bothered to care – you just couldn't stop thinking about him for not even a second. Not when you were packing, not in the back of the cab on your way to the airport, but most certainly not at the airport, where all you could see were couples. Suddenly you were the only single person left on the planet, it felt like. It was like a twisted game karma was playing with you, with a nasty grin on its face. Seeing lovers telling their goodbyes while hugging and kissing, squeezing in a laugh or two between their falling tears felt sickening all of the sudden.
When you heard the announcement from the speakers saying that your flight was boarding, you just wanted to cry.
Maybe this was the moment he is going to show up?
Running through the airport, chasing after you to tell you he'll forgive you, and ask you that question again?
But soon you had to get back to reality and realise this wasn't Love Actually and Joe wasn't the older version of Sam, just like you weren't the older version of Joanna.
You sat in your seat on the plane, just blankly staring at your phone's darkened screen, waiting for it to light up with his name written across it. You glanced up occasionally, watching people claiming their seats.
Couples everywhere again.
They just can't seem run out for Christ's sake, now can they?
You waited until the last second, before turning your phone off, accepting the silence.
Taglist:
@plk-18
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Requests are open. Take care, have a lovely day / night !! :)
Summary: After that weekend, the group reunites, angst ensues between Joe and you.
Warnings: angst, no smut in this one
Word count: 3.1k
A/N: Soo…it’s been a while since inspiration and I have hung out, but it happened eventually!! :) This is not the final part of our journey, probably part III will be.
Winter soon arrived to London with heavy snow and a low temperature. The sound of the fresh snow crunching under boots followed people's steps everywhere, as the festive lights lead the way alongside with the street lamps in the darkening late afternoon hours.
You were on your way to Jamie and Jess's house to have an early Christmas celebration with the others. As a few of you are going to be out of town for the holidays, the friend group figured you could have an early celebration and play the game of Secret Santa. On a night out you wrote your names on small pieces of paper, put it in a baseball hat and everyone picked one. Praying you wouldn't grab that name, you were quite relieved when you saw 'Jess' written in black ink.
"Hey, come in." Jamie opened the door with a wide smile on his face.
"Hi. This is for the hosts." You held up a bottle of wine with a red bow in it.
"You didn't have to. Thank you." He gestured to the wine.
He helped you take your coat off and after removing your shoes as well, you walked to the living room where the others were already deep in conversation.
"Hey." You placed the present under the tree. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing, don't worry." Maya smiled as you sat beside her on the couch. Your eye scanned the room, but stilled on something.
On someone.
He already had his eyes on you, but looked away when your stares met. You hadn't seen Joe for the past two months.
In practice, avoiding him was actually easier than you'd thought. Majority of the group got busy with work, – including yourself – so the group chat hadn't been the liveliest. Since that weekend the group had hung out maybe three or four times, most of those occasions declined by you, expect for one; when he declined before you had the chance to.
Theoretically though, it was way harder. He wandered through your mind multiple times every day – the longest time you spent without having him on your mind wasn't more that just a couple hours. At this point he was living in your head. Sometimes, when you thought about it too much, it felt torturous, but a part of you had convinced yourself that you deserved it for rejecting him.
"Everyone's here now, so..how about we open gifts?" Jamie suggested as he walked back into the living room.
Everyone picked up the box that had the little paper with their name on it and sat back down. Wrapping paper was all over the floor in no second as everybody was curious to see what it was hiding. When you took your box in your hands, you noticed the small tag hanging from it saying 'From: Jess'.
"What's the chance? I'm also your Secret San..." You look up at Jess, only to see a different box in her hands from the one you brought. Your eyes scanned the room for the box wrapped in the red Santa hats covered paper. When your gaze caught it, you realised, the pattern of the little hats was being torn – slowly and hesitantly – by hands a little too familiar.
His hands.
Joseph had your gift.
The box with black, fluffy handcuffs and a blindfold in it was in Joe's hands.
By the time you realised what was happening in front of your eyes, it was too late. His head shot up, the confused stare of wide, rounded eyes burning into yours as he saw what was inside the box. The shade of your face started to grow the same as the colour of the santa hats.
"Hm?" Jess looked up as she heard your voice. She saw the uneasy look on your face and followed your eyes.
"That's supposed to be Jess' gift, I'm her Secret Santa, not yours!" You tried to stay as calm as possible.
"It says my name on it." He held up the paper.
"No, it says Jess!"
"No, I got Jess." You heard Maya's voice.
"It literally says 'Joe' on it!" Joseph handed you the small note that quickly became your enemy in a few seconds; it was responsible for this awkward situation.
"That's Jess." You murmured as arguing seemed easier, rather than to just accept the fact that you had actually been Joe's secret Santa all along.
"It says Joe, that's an 'o' and an 'e' at the end!" He followed the line of the pen on the paper, drawing the letters with his finger, growing more and more annoyed with the situation.
"Since when do you have such a messy handwriting? Couldn't you just write 'Joseph'?!" You sighed.
"It's not my fault you can't read three fucking letters!" He stood from the couch.
"Woah, it's okay, calm down." Jamie said as everyone else was too stunned to speak. "You misread his name, it's no big deal. Don't loose your mind over it...Nice gift, by the way." He wiggled his eyebrows with a small laugh, trying to ease the thick tension hanging in the air.
"It's..fuck...I was sure it said 'Jess'."
"Maybe you just wanted it to have 'Jess' on it." He scoffed with annoyance written all over his face.
"What is your problem?" You snapped at his attitude.
"What's my problem? What's yours?!"
"Okay, enough! Go outside and talk it out or stop it. It was supposed to be just a nice gesture, don't take it so bloody seriously for fuck's sake."
You and Joseph just eyed each other for a couple seconds, before he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lighter from the coffee table and stormed outside, leaving you with prying looks as everyone sat in silence, not daring to move.
"I'll talk to him." Jamie walked to the front door, grabbing his own and Joseph's coat before heading outside, following him.
"What was that?" He stood next to him and held the coat open for Joseph.
"Nothing."
"Well it was quite a big scene for nothing." He humphed. "Seriously, what's the matter? You've been weird ever since she got here."
"I'm just tired."
"Don't bullshit me. What is it? You like her, so why'd you snap at her like that?" Jamie examined his face, only guessing what could have been causing so much tension.
"We, uh...we slept together." Muttered Joseph barely audibly as he sighed, his thumb and ring finger pinching the bridge of his nose as he held the cigarette between his pointing and middle finger.
"No shit." Said Jamie, unsurprised.
"What? How do you know?"
"Oh, c'mon. Even the blind can see something happened between you two."
"Do you think the others know?"
"I have no idea. I didn't say anything to anyone, so...when did it happen?"
"Uh, remember the weekend we spent at that house?"
"You two did it while Jess and I were on the other side of the wall? Seriously?"
"Well, not exactly.."
"My goodness..where?"
"The kitchen.." Mumbled Joe.
"You're kidding, right? In the kitchen? Where we had fucking breakfast?" He chuckled in disbelief, but his face dropped when he realised. "That's why you were there when I went downstairs!"
"Well, kind of..yeah."
"And what happened then? What went wrong?"
"Well..the following day we talked about it. I asked if there could ever be more between us." He stopped and sighed.
"And she..?"
"Said we should just forget it." He said as he ashed the cigarette, remembering how much those words stung when he heard them fall from your lips. Jamie hissed in empathy, only imagining how his best friend must have felt.
"Have you talked ever since that?"
"Yeah, a few minutes ago." He huffed.
They stood in silence, just listening to the busy streets of London as the cold winter air started to creep under their clothes – almost like it was trying to get under their skin, all the way to their bones.
"Let's go back inside. I'm fucking freezing."
"What do I do? I can't just go back in and act like nothing happened."
"You're going to apologise for snapping at her like that and tell them that you're just tired."
The atmosphere shifted from awkward to painfully awkward when Joe and Jamie came back inside, everyone staying silent, unsure about what to say, or do.
"Sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm just really tired." He glanced at your for a second before sitting down across from you, rather avoiding eye contact.
"It's okay." A quiet sigh escaped from you. "I'm sorry for misreading the paper."
" 'S okay." He muttered.
"Tired, eh? You had a long night?" Keery looked at Joe with a grin on his face.
The previous night some of the boys payed a visit to the group's favourite pub. Joseph sent a text to the group chat last minute, in the late evening. He just had a shit day and wanted to blow some steam off before spending a whole day around you with the endless tension. He did chat with a blondie but he found her to be rather tiring with all the talking; chitchatting with her was the last thing on his mind. He ended up leaving the pub alone, with a failed mission.
"What? No, nothing like that." Joe shook his head, not really feeling like having a conversation of that type.
"What happened to that blondie?"
"Nothing happened. It's a long story."
"You kidding me? She was all over you!"
"Whatever." Joe tried cutting the conversation short.
A nasty feeling creeped up on you suddenly by the thought of Joe flirting with other girls and even taking them home possibly. Jealousy flashed its green eyes at you, leaving you frustrated due to not really being able to do anything about it.
Two months have passed since that weekend, during which you were able to think things through. You started reminiscing about your friendship and how you always got along so well with him. Before Jason came along, you actually almost thought you had started liking Joseph, but the thought of possibly ruining your friendship scared you. But now here you were, and the more time passed without seeing him or talking to him, the more you missed him. And now that he was here in front of you, you wanted nothing more than to apologise to him. All evening you looked for moments to get him alone, unsuccessfully. During dinner he sat the furthest away from you, he avoided any interaction with you, which left you somewhat confused and hurt. It might've been cruel to decline him on that weekend, but did it really hurt him so bad?
Everything became suffocating and frustrating all of the sudden and you needed a minute alone.
"I'll be right back." You got up and walked out of the living room, to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. After closing the door behind you, you were met with your reflection in the mirror, which looked different than when you left your home. It was care-worn and anxious now, your thoughts written on your face. You were surprised nobody pointed it out. Deciding to take your mind off the topic for the rest of the night, you took a deep breath.
Upon exiting the bathroom you saw Joseph putting on his shoes and taking his coat from the rack.
"You're leaving already?" Your voice startled him.
"Uh..yeah. I have to..good night."
"Good night." You said hesitantly.
He stilled and looked at you before he walked out and the front door closed behind him with a soft click. Your mind didn't even have time to process what you were doing, and before you knew it, you already had your shoes on, reaching for the doorknob, following Joseph.
"Joe!" You saw him standing in the snow, mid-conversation, facing in the direction of the corner of the front porch, where Jamie stood, smoking. Joe's eyes examined you as you were looking at Jamie.
Your common sense caught up to you, immediately starting to curse at you for going after him.
All three of you stood in silence for a few seconds, just waiting for something to happen. Jamie ended up moving first. He put out his cigarette and walked to the front door, nodded at Joe encouragingly and went inside. Your eyes rested on the freshly fallen snow covering everything, before eventually looking at Joe who stared at you with a surprised, awaiting expression.
"I'm sorry." You barely recognised your voice, it sounded so unsure as all the courage had left you, the sudden rush of adrenaline dying down, letting the freezing temperature slowly get to you.
"You just misread my name, I'll live." He shrugged his shoulders, a tad uncomfortable in the situation.
"No, not that. I'm sorry for saying that we should just forget what happened..between us."
He didn't say anything, just nodded, unamused – not exactly the reaction you expected, so you continued. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I really didn't regret it, but it still feels somewhat wrong. I didn't intend to make you feel used…you weren't a rebound."
"Then what was I?" He asked, clearly hurt.
"I don't know, but definitely not just a rebound. Listen, I'm not ready for any sort of romantic commitment yet." It got quiet for a few moments before you carried on, with a voice barely above a whisper. "I miss you. I miss us being best friends."
"And what do you want me to say to that?" He huffed.
"I don't know." You said quietly, completely regretting coming after him now.
"Is there anything you know?" Mockery and disbelief was dripping from his tone, making you feel small, and more embarrassed and frustrated than ever.
"You know what I know? I know that I fucked up and I hurt you, but after two months of avoiding each other I'm standing here, apologising. I said sorry, sincerely, and I also know that in this very moment you're being a jackass!"
"Me, a jackass?!" His eyebrows almost met his hairline in disbelief.
"Yeah, because I'm saying sorry and feeling bad for hurting you and you can't accept my fucking apology! What else could I say to make you believe I truly am sorry?! I never thought you'd get so caught up in this."
"Of course I'm gonna get caught up in this! Just when I finally feel like I might have a chance with you, you reject me!"
"What's that even supposed to mean?"
"It means that I've liked you for fucking ages, for fuck's sake! And I understand that you were confused and the last thing I wanted to do was forcing myself upon you, but you also have to understand that this isn't easy for me! I tried getting over you, but I see you in every woman I talk to!"
You were stunned, to say the least. Silence settled between you – the kind that makes you feel like you're walking on very thin ice.
"You liked me?"
"Of course I did!" He threw his arms in the air in disbelief. "I do."
"Since when? And why didn't you say anything?!"
"For about a year now. And I was gonna tell you.."
"When?"
"When you introduced fucking Jason to us! I was going to make a move on you that night."
You truly didn't know what to say or do at this point. Your thoughts were racing as the eye contact never broke between you two.
"So what now?"
"What now?" He reciprocated your question. "You're flying home for Christmas, I guess?"
"I am." You nodded.
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow, in the early afternoon. I'm coming back on the 28th."
At that moment it felt like everything that had to be, was said. You just stood there, your eyes wandering from each other to the landscape. You both waited for the other to say something, neither of you truly wanting to say goodbye yet.
"I um..I have to wake up early tomorrow." His voice sounded eventually. "So..take care. And get inside, it's freezing."
"Take care."
"Good night."
You said goodbye to him before he got into his car. Your eyes followed the taillights of his car with an upset, distressed gaze. You were truly hoping this tension filled situation would come to an end finally. With a heavy heart you walked back inside, only now noticing the cruelly low temperature outside.
You didn't sleep so much throughout the night. His words kept you awake as you replayed them in your head on an endless loop. The more you remembered him saying he liked you, the more it warmed your heart and made you feel excited. Regret and shame filled every part of your body for doing all of this to him, for creating such a mess – even though you never intended to.
As you were packing your suitcases in the early morning, you were secretly hoping – not even admitting it to yourself – that Joe would show up. The sound of your doorbell – which you usually absolutely despised as it always stressed you out when hearing it – was all you wanted to hear. It would've been the sweetest sound at that very moment.
Actually, you were sure at this point you had forgotten to pack something, but you couldn’t be bothered to care – you just couldn't stop thinking about him for not even a second. Not when you were packing, not in the back of the cab on your way to the airport, but most certainly not at the airport, where all you could see were couples. Suddenly you were the only single person left on the planet, it felt like. It was like a twisted game karma was playing with you, with a nasty grin on its face. Seeing lovers telling their goodbyes while hugging and kissing, squeezing in a laugh or two between their falling tears felt sickening all of the sudden.
When you heard the announcement from the speakers saying that your flight was boarding, you just wanted to cry.
Maybe this was the moment he is going to show up?
Running through the airport, chasing after you to tell you he'll forgive you, and ask you that question again?
But soon you had to get back to reality and realise this wasn't Love Actually and Joe wasn't the older version of Sam, just like you weren't the older version of Joanna.
You sat in your seat on the plane, just blankly staring at your phone's darkened screen, waiting for it to light up with his name written across it. You glanced up occasionally, watching people claiming their seats.
Couples everywhere again.
They just can't seem run out for Christ's sake, now can they?
You waited until the last second, before turning your phone off, accepting the silence.
Taglist:
@plk-18
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Requests are open. Take care, have a lovely day / night !! :)
Paris from the balcony – S/F (Joseph and you are in Paris, and you get back to the hotel room after a night out at the club.)
Surprises – R/S/F (Joseph is overworked, so you surprise him with a trip to Rome, where – unbeknownst to you – he’s planning on proposing to you.)
Birthday boy – R/S/F (On Joseph’s birthday you surprise him by going to disco bowling, then having dinner and at home you surprise him with plane tickets. Also, birthday sex ofc.)
Rumors – R/F (You wear one of Joseph’s blazers to a dinner and the ST fans put the puzzle together.)
The pattern of his skin – R/S (You leave a love bite on Joseph’s neck and he has an event to attend.)
When craving warmth - S/F (After a long day, you have slow, needy sex with soft!Joe, with a little teasing..)
The madness of law – F/R (Studying gets overwhelming for you and Joe comforts and reassures you.)
Caught in the act – S/F (You wake up from a wet dream, but Joe’s asleep, so you have to take care of yourself. You end up in the shower, where he catches you in the act.)
Series:
(I Just) Died In Your Arms
Part I – R/A/S (Joseph and you are best friends and on a weekend trip (with other members of the ST cast) you sleep together. Since you just got out of a relationship, you’re confused about your feelings.)
Part II – A (After that weekend, the group reunites, angst ensues between Joe and you. )
Part III – A/S
————————————
Feedbacks are greatly appreciated, thank you for reading my stories <3
Love love love your writing! I’d be so interested to see your take on a friends to lover situation where the reader and Joe are good friends and the reader constantly gets the ick so Joe sets a challenge at a party (thinking Italian summer party) for her to find someone who doesn’t give them the ick.
And she realises that Joe is the only one that has no icks 👀
okay so ive had an INTERESTING (read: 18+, v spicy) suggestion from @werepartnersnow who, by the way, claims she doesn't read rpf but then found herself in my inbox asking for very specific filth 👀👀👀 but, anyway, it was good filth, and i was trying to find a way to tackle her request, and then this request really brought it all together for me, so, THANK YOU! here we GO sluts!
Wordcount: 3.9K
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Double Or Nothing
part one - part two - part three - part four - part five
“Did Joe say he was coming?”
“Yea, I’m surprised he’s not been spotted yet,”
Heads craned back, and you grumbled into your beer. Conversation had been flowing so nicely, and now, suddenly, everyone had to look at the pub entrance to check if there was any sign of Joe yet.
Like he was the guest of honour missing still.
Like the night hadn’t started properly yet, because Joe wasn’t there.
Ugh.
Now… listen...
By no means did you dislike Joe. He was your friend just as well as he was all of theirs. It was just that, Joe had seemingly become a lot more interesting to a lot more people in a very short amount of time. Even some of your friends sort of… fell for the sudden hype that surrounded him. Wanted it proven to the outside world that they were friends with Joe. That they knew him. Were part of his group.
And you kind of got it, or... at least a little.
Joe got to do very cool and exciting things, met very cool and exciting people, and he'd bring anyone who had the time to join. Any time he'd drop a message with the question 'who's got time off for these dates' it was really a first come, first served sort of deal.
So it kind of made sense that people wanted in with Joe. However, he couldn't pay you enough to sit next to him for a full day, or several, as he passed out autographs like boring assembly line work. To see people fawn over him. Tell him how amazing they all think he is...
Because Joe was… he was just Joe.
There was a lull in conversation, and you felt the need to remind everyone of the time Joe spent a full night ordering drinks for everyone before dipping out and leaving the last people with the bill.
He paid for his own share later, but, still. That was a shitty move.
Or when Imogen and Lawrence had gotten married, and he thought it was okay to help himself to a piece of cake before they'd done the ceremonious cutting of it.
Or when he'd invited everyone over to a party at someone's house without informing the host he was bringing seven other people. That night you'd just stood around awkwardly, all of you, knowing you weren't welcome and afraid to have any of the drinks for fear of them running out.
It felt healthy to remind everyone that Joe was just your shit friend. This guy who they’d known forever and who they also sometimes didn’t like. Because he could be a bit of a boring loser, who’d cancel on events last minute. One that you liked - he was still your friend, supported you when you needed support, made you laugh when you needed cheering up and was just... overall was a fun guy to hang out with. Despite all the shitty things.
Joe knew this is how you felt, and, not that you'd asked, but if you would have, he'd easily agree with you. Would just smile as you glared at him for forgetting someone's birthday and then pretending a gift someone else had bought was from him too.
And he got away with shit like that every single time because of that stupid smile. All charming, all endearing.
All handsome, and shit.
You felt a nudge to your knee under the table after you'd rolled your eyes at everyone looking around to find Joe. You were given a brief smirk by one of your friends before eyes turned away from you and you frowned. Idiot.
You knew what was insinuated there, and didn’t appreciate it.
It wasn’t the first time you’d been very adamant and obvious about not being impressed with Joe, and people took it to mean something else. Like you were overdoing it to hide your real feelings.
You weren’t overdoing anything, though, and you wanted to say something, wanted to argue and bite back at that stupid smug look you got, but you noticed the eyes of the people on the other side of the table focus on something over your head.
You jumped, tensed up with shock, when someone suddenly grabbed you by the shoulders. It nearly knocked over every drink on the table as your knees shot up and banged the underside of it.
“Jesus,”
“No, just me,” Joe joked, and he got heys and hellos and big smiles and even a drink handed over that someone had gotten him before he’d even arrived, and oh my fucking God, you needed more celebrities in your group because this was getting a little ridiculous.
You composed yourself fast, recollected yourself and tried your hardest to push down the blush that had crept onto your face.
Like you’d predicted, the second Joe joined the group, you suddenly all became his entourage.
Now you were all Joe's friends.
You weren’t, but, that’s what it felt like.
To Joe’s credit, he didn’t really act any different – he was still his quiet, normal self. Kind of dull, nothing crazy, just there for a laugh, comfortable with the spotlight being off of him for a little bit. That was nice, and you appreciated that.
It was just that your other friends were big dumb idiots. Not all of them, but, enough of them for it to bother you a little.
Although, Joe had changed his hair... so, he'd changed a little since Hollywood had come a-knocking.
It was all fine, though. The conversation automatically sort of continued from where it left of before Joe joined and the small bit of annoyance you felt before quickly disappeared.
You paid close attention to not paying close attention to Joe.
It wasn’t until Joe cheersed his glass with your half empty one to catch your attention that the irritation you'd felt before crept back in a little.
Not because of the focus landing on you, but because of the question he asked.
Not how are you. Not how’ve you been. But, “No David?”
You gave a little sarcastic smile, tilted your head down to look at him through your eyelashes and confirmed, “No David.”
Apparently that was enough for other people to comment on the matter as well.
“Yea, how’s that going?”
“Are you still seeing each other?”
You took too long to answer either question, and when you look a slow sip of your drink to give yourself more time to think of how you were going to frame this, you could see one of your friends groan. The lack of information said plenty.
“Oh no, here we go again,”
“Should’ve known it,”
“Did you dump him already?”
The whole table seemed to feel the same way about you and David not hanging out together anymore. Made sense though, David was the first guy in a good while you'd taken along to meet some of them. Before David, there'd just been a lot of first dates that only sometimes graduated into a second, and then, usually, contact would sort of... fizzle out.
“I didn’t dump him– there was no dumping to be done, we weren’t dating,”
You got a few scoffs.
“What was it this time?”
And, okay, so, your track record wasn't great by any means. It's just that... you were very easy to turn off, you guessed. And once you found something about someone that got under your skin, you couldn't not see it. You couldn't not hyper-focus on it, and you knew that from that moment on, whatever you and whichever guy had together was doomed to fail.
“Just... we didn't really match each other,”
That was the polite, vague way of putting it. You looked at your drink as you said it but felt Joe's eyes stare you down. It burned your cheeks a bit.
“No, be honest,” Izzy said, speaking to you as if you were a toddler before she went for a sip of her drink.
“What? That's essentially exactly why he's not here right now,”
Izzy scoffed, and you silently cursed your best friend. She was going to make you say it. The thing you told her in private. You took a mental note to never be honest with her again.
“Can I tell them the story, or are you going to do it yourself? I'd love to be the one to share it,” she sat up and leant in. Ready.
The eyes of your friends moved between her and you, like they were watching a tennis match, absolutely not sure where this was going, but very exciting to see where it was going to go.
“Well, it wasn't one specific thing,” you started, and foolishly, left too long a silence after. Izzy filled it immediately, because it very much was one specific thing and she couldn't keep the knowledge inside any longer.
“Bad sex.”
It got some hearty laughs from the group, and when you looked at Joe, you caught his narrowed eyes. He looked a bit hesitant, small smile playing his lips as he hovered his glass in front of his mouth, like was about to take a sip, but couldn't because he had to see how you were going to react to Izzy.
“Okay, no,” you fought. “It wasn't bad sex... not, like, not overall, anyway, it wasn't... it wasn't the worst by any means,” you stumbled through your words and it made Izzy shoot up her eyebrows.
“Oh, are we doing specifics?”
You groaned and saw Joe perk up a little from the corner of your eye.
Fuck.
“Absolutely not, that's not... that's not fair on David,”
What you meant was, let's not talk about my sex life in detail in the middle of this pub, thanks very much. But Izzy didn't care though. She hadn't listened to you faking your orgasms through her bedroom wall for a few weeks for fucking nothing.
“What did he claim to be good at?”
“Isabella...” using her full name did nothing, unfortunately.
“He'd boast about it so much, even I started getting a little jealous,”
“I'm going to get another drink,”
Escaping seemed a good idea. Izzy could just talk about the things she'd heard David say to you in the other room without you there. But you were kind of closed in. Couldn't just get up and make your way over to the bar without people having to move out of your way for it.
“What was it?” Joe asked carefully, voice not too loud, the question definitely only aimed for you to hear. Curious. Not that he was being any kinder towards you than any of your other friends were – you could see that cheeky smile, could see how he was ready to let laughter escape him. Plus, everyone heard him anyway.
You saw your friend open her mouth, ready to answer for you.
“Izzy, don't,” you raised a finger, and you silently cursed at yourself for not being able to keep a straight face anymore.
She was going to say it.
“Head.”
Someone snorted into their beer which splashed into their face and that made people laugh more than what Izzy'd said, but now, that information was out there. It made you slump down into your seat so far, you were practically under the table.
“You told him to fuck off for eating you out wrong? Am I hearing this right?” one of your friends asked, not even judgmentally, but more to coax you out of your hiding spot.
It worked.
“Okay, so, listen,” you sat up, ready to justify your actions. You weren't a horrible person, and you needed people to agree. “If you claim to be amazing at something like that, I would kind of expect you to then also... you know, actually know... where things, are?”
You looked around, read your friend's faces and most of them knew exactly what you meant. Didn't need to use the actual words to describe in detail what David couldn't locate.
Izzy read your friend's faces different, though. Thought they did need clarification, and she was an accommodating friend. Wanted to help out. Also enjoyed embarrassing you a little too much, the bitch.
“Kept licking her leg, sucked on everything but her clit,”
“Oh my G–” you hid your face with both your hands, elbows perched on the table.
“David, David, David,” Joe shook his head, tutted at you, seemed to feel genuinely sorry for the guy.
“To be fair, it's a good reason to stop seeing someone,” someone else said, and you quipped a quick thank you. The comment prompted people to go over all of the other reasons you'd turned men down before, and the list was... extensive, to say the least.
Chewed on his food with his mouth open. Dressed like he was colourblind. Was into weird experimental music that really got under your skin. Bit down on his fork when he ate. Held his phone only an inch away from his face when he used it. Kissed with his eyes wide open like a psychopath. Ran after a beerpong ball in a half-crouch and failed in his attempts to grab it as it bounced. Puns.
Every ick came with it's own backstory and you were shocked by how much your friends remembered - you'd forgotten half the things they were bringing up, reminiscing about the batch of men that you'd turned down for reasons they all deemed ridiculous. It was a lot of laughing at your expense. It was a good thing you were a good sport and that you genuinely liked your friends, so you just laughed along. Knew they all would've probably gotten annoyed by the same things you had. You know, eventually.
It wasn't until someone looked around and said, “There's got to be at least one person in here who doesn't scare her off immediately,” and no, no, no, no. You didn't need your friends actually getting involved in you meeting men.
Not tonight, anyway.
But heads started turning and eyes started scoping out the place, gliding across and lingering on men that maybe stood a chance.
You checked and saw that Joe didn't join in. He was looking down below the table, seemingly to check what his feet were touching, or something along those lines, anyway.
It could be a way to opt out of the game that your friends engaged in mostly to just make fun of you. It could also be that his attention span was too short and he was bored. Both options were awful. The fact that you even looked at him to check was awful in and of itself.
You were no better than your friends.
“Okay, enough,” you held up a hand, elbow in the middle of the table whilst you squeezed your eyes shut. “If you're going to make me look at people and come up with an ick, we'll be here all night. I could even go over all of you and think of several icks for each of you, so let's not,” you laughed, hoping it'd put an end to it.
It did the exact opposite.
“Not for me!” one friend argued, and the whole table laughed. Everyone could easily name multiple things, and so it kicked off.
You all went around the table, named things about each other that would drive you mad if you were to date them. It ranged from obvious things like snoring and working too much, to more niche things, like how someone would continuously pronounce a word wrong whilst insisting that they were right (they weren't) and someone else not wearing socks in certain pairs of shoes (gross).
You were the deciding factor each time. If you agreed with what someone said, there was no more arguing and you'd move on to the next person.
Until you reached Joe.
“Let's go, give me all you've got,” Joe beckoned with both hands, welcoming the criticism like a trooper. It was all innocent fun, after all.
And your friends would name things. All sorts. How he sometimes wouldn't reply to texts for days, leaving people on read for ages. How he'd cancel on people by saying wild shit like, “Oops, sorry, can't make it tonight, I'm in Tokyo rn”. The fact that he'd always hold up the last cigarette from a packet and say, “This is the last one, I'm quitting after this,” and then he'd just as easily buy another packet straight after.
But an unsettling realisation dawned on you.
You silently, almost automatically, dismissed everything that your friends mentioned, that got them laughing and got Joe to jokingly gasp and pretend offense to because... none of it turned you off per se.
Wide eyes looked at each other across the table, and Izzy couldn't fucking believe what she was hearing.
“That doesn't bother you?”
You laughed and gave your friend a panicked look, “It should! But... somehow it doesn't?”
You got a nudge of a knee under the table again and knew exactly what it meant. You pretended you hadn't felt it. That felt safer.
People started repeating things, waiting for you to go, “Ugh yes,” but you didn't, for none of it, and you thought of lying. Of just pretending that something did, but learning that none of Joe's personality traits actually rubbed you wrong was just as shocking to you as it was to everyone else.
Joe even joined in himself, said, “I'm always fidgetting!” but it did the fucking opposite. Made you look at his hands and notice how nice they were.
Shit.
“Is Joe ick-less?” a pair of astonished eyes asked you, and you couldn't fucking believe yourself when you slowly nodded, lips pressed together impossibly tight.
Joe was ick-less... what the actual fuck?!
“Uh oh,”
“We've found the one, guys! Game over!”
“So, when's the wedding?”
You scoffed. Loudly. Your friends were confirming they were big dumb idiots, you didn't even have to do any convincing of it yourself.
“Nah,” Joe said, and when you looked at him, you grew immediately shy. The little smirk and the mischievous eyes threatened trouble. “I can break her...”
Oh, fuck. The air between the two of you sparkled as your friends oohed, all eyes moving back and forth between the two of you. Even Izzy seemed intrigued.
“One week to give her the ick,” someone suggested.
“Easy,” Joe boasted, not breaking eye-contact.
“Why would you care abou–” you started, but were cut off by Joe who's smile got wider by the second as he challenged you, “And if I win?”
Despite the fact that his eyes were on you, the question was directed at your other friends. When they didn't answer, Joe turned to them, “What are we playing for?”
This... this wasn't happening.
“If you lose, she deserves some good head,” Izzy quipped, and you could've murdered her right then and there. Could've broken a glass on the edge of a table to slit her throat with, because what the fuck was that?
“Three days of head,”
“I said good head,”
“Guys, stop!” you tried, but you might as well not have been there.
“And if you win, she'll return the favour,”
“What?! Oh my God, fuck off, we're not doing this,” you waved both hands in a line, signaling that this was enough now. The joke was over. You weren't laughing.
“Three favours then,” someone else proposed.
“Like that's going to make a difference, he'll just ask for three days of head,”
“No, he'll make her his PA, for a con, or whatever,”
“Ooh, good one!”
“Yea, I'm not falling for that again,”
Joe snorted as your friends debated about a bet that definitely wasn't going to happen. You weren't going to shake on this, no matter how badly they wanted this free bit of entertainment for themselves.
“Okay,” Izzy said, smacking the table with a flat palm, shutting everyone up.
“Joe is going give you the ick within a week. If he doesn't, you'll owe him three favours and if he does, you'll be getting from Joe what you haven't gotten from David,”
“What if she lies?”
“She's a terrible liar, I see right through her,”
Izzy did. Had always been able to.
“Jesus Christ, you're a bunch of delusional losers,” you laughed.
There was going to have to be a moment where Joe would side with you and you'd swipe the whole ordeal off the table together. At least, that's what you expected.
You expected wrong.
Instead of Joe telling your friends to leave you alone, to be sensible and kind, because you hadn't even gotten good sex in a little while, poor puppy... instead of all of that, you noticed how he waited for the commotion at the table to quiet down a little before he said, “Double or nothing.”
“What?”
“Double or nothing. One week of head,”
“Izzy said good hea-,”
“One week of good head, or one week of favours,”
You frowned slightly at him, dumbfounded that Joe seemed to be going with it.
He was actually going along with this.
Were you going to want to let Joe go down on you?
Wait.
You wrecked your brain and tried to think of everything that someone had ever done to you that had turned you off immediately. Would those same things be awful of Joe did them?
Probably not.
What a wild conclusion. If anything, you'd learnt something about yourself today that you honestly never thought was something you were ever going to have to think about.
So the question wasn't, would you let Joe go down on you... The question was, would you let Joe drag you along to be his personal assistant for a week? Because that was most definitely what he was going to ask of you. You had no interest in tagging along to watch someone do their job, and everyone knew this about you.
Fuck, were you... were you considering doing this?
Joe felt the second of hesitation and held his pinky out, hoping he'd get you to link yours with his before that window closed.
Your eyes glanced at Izzy, who somehow looked bored and giddy at the same time.
Should you do it? Joe's picky flexed and he questioningly raised his eyebrows at you, a small smile underneath.
Just for shits and giggles?
What came out of your mouth next was so quiet, it was barely audible in the loud ambiance of the pub.
“Fine.”
But it was okay, people didn't need to be able to hear you. Because it was embarrassing, but also, because what happened next was one of your arms, moving from where it cupped your own face to half way across the table. Your pinky finger met Joe's and they linked.
“Deal.”
Joe's stupid face broke into a huge grin that made you instantly regret agreeing, but his pinky was stronger than yours and held you in its grip as he repeated your words back to you.
Imagine it’s like your third/fourth date with Joe and he decides to have the date at his so he can show off his mega cooking skills. Everything is so cute and fluffy and saccharine and then it’s the first time the two of you have sex. But it’s all adorable and sweet rather than the (wonderful) filth that you usually do!! I feel like I don’t see enough first time fics anymore :(
I GOT YOU. One fluffy fluffed up imagine just for you bestie 🥰
Under 18's DNI.
Word Count: 3.5k
There was something different about Joe, the absolute charmer of a man that you had never witnessed before in anybody else. It was something you couldn't quite pin point and if you had one guess it would be that you had never been treated quite like the queen that others had told you that you oh so truly deserved.
It hadn't took long for Joe to break down the walls in which you had held up as much as you could from previous relationships, but he had it all, not just the looks that were an extreme bonus and you felt like you could jump him every time you saw him but also the persona he only really kept for people that was worth it, the whit and the chaotically beautiful and quite frankly funny yet brutally sweet and caring nature of him had shined through by the time your second date had come around.
Basically, to put it bluntly, he was your definition of perfect and it was something you couldn't possibly refuse to let go.
It was proving an impossible task to not fall in love with this human so quickly. It was cringeworthy to admit, but he was the first thing you thought about in a morning and the very last thing you dreamt about at night, it was a puzzle piece in your heart that was missing and he somehow completed it by walking into your life at the time he did.
Not to say you didn't meet the way most courting adults do nowadays, through the wonders of dreaded hooking up dating apps. You had felt like a teenager with a massive crush staying up until 4am the first time that you ever exchanged messages, talking for hours in pointless conversation, sharing memories and exchanging pleasantries and the general chit chat to get to know one another. You just clicked. What seemed too good to be true turned into texting every single day, calling each other when you both had a spare minute, sharing the occasional face time just to be able to say hello at the closest face to face you could finally get a chance to meet; and then it happened.
Date one: a simplistic meal at an authentic Italian restaurant, suited and booted, a grand first impression of a gentleman if any. Your first kiss. Sensual, slow and heartfelt.
Date two: Driving out to a lake which was situated around the lovely grounds of a valley, you held hands pretty much all the way around, giggling, sharing ice cream, feeding the ducks with over priced bread and laughing at Joe nearly falling in the water when he leaned to actually hand feed the duckling, resulting in him almost looking like a drowned rat and being branded an accidental murderer forever.
Date three: Another meal at a fancy five star French restaurant in the heart of London, followed by drinks in bars that Joe insisted he needed to take you to as they did the best martini's you'd ever tasted. He wasn't wrong, you fucking hated martinis until that night, maybe it was just a placebo due to the fact he enjoyed them, so you made yourself like them too, you had to impress him to right? You'd made out in the taxi all the way back to your flat, Joe dropped you off not insinuating that he wanted to take it any further as it was clear you both didn't want to rush something that was going so well and risk it failing over sleeping together too quickly.
Date four was tonight. You had arranged a quieter more casual meet this evening. Joe had shown great determination in getting you to his home to cook for you, vowing to you over and over that he was a way better chef than those of the restaurants you had eaten at together on dates in the past. Even though it was less formal affair, you still made yourself look presentable, sporting an oversized jumper dress with a more relaxed approach to stick to wearing trainers, it wasn't like you would have them on long anyway. Minimal make up and a nice up do, packing your over night bag as you had the bright idea that you would stay over the night so that you didn't have to rush through the time you had together; you could take your time.
You packed pyjamas, why? Because you didn't know how comfortable you would be to sleep in your underwear next to a male who you weren't sure would want to see such a thing. He's a man, of course he fucking would; but you didn't want to come across eager.
It was about a 25 minute drive to where you needed to be, you were still nervous to see Joe after already seeing so much of each other in the last few weeks, it was still fresh to you but you knew as soon as you were together, the comfortability would kick in pretty much when you arrived and shared your first glances.
When you got to the front door, it opened before your fist had even touched the object. You stood there with it mid air, a small wolf whistle followed by the sweetest smile, his sweetest smile, teeth and all. Joe of course was dressed to the nines, shirt and trousers but as you looked down to check the full variety of what you had to stare it, you noticed the cute pink socks sticking out like a sore thumb underneath the foot of his trousers. You couldn't help but snigger a giggle.
"Real men wear pink." Were his first words.
"And you're looking sincerely sexy in those pink socks Joe." You both chortled out a bark of laughter as Joe gestured for you to come through before closing the door behind you.
Once you were no longer in view of the public, you were met by Joe's hand clutching around your waist, bringing you in to close the space between your bodies. You leaned upward to receive a content little peck on the lips, your hands placed on his chest to keep you steady as you brought your feet back down fully to ground level.
"You look beautiful, darling." Joe cooed.
"Oh stop it." You patted his chest as he hummed a chuckle.
"Thank you would be a better answer." He tilted his head to one side, unknowingly surprised with you reaching to share a more intimate kiss this time. As you pulled back, Joe sighed almost peacefully, the way you did when you had butterflies flipping around your stomach. The feeling was definitely most mutual.
"Okay you win, that was a perfect response." Joe took your hand once you had rested them back to your side and brought you into the kitchen/dining area where he pulled out your seat for you. You thanked him as you looked around to see how classy he had set out the cutlery, a small plate, a dinner plate and a wine glass. A jug of water in the middle of the table in case you needed it at any point throughout the meal.
"Smells divine in here." You gazed around the messy kitchen, the sign of a good hearty meal being cooked as well as it could be showed that he was pulling out all of the stops.
"I hope you're hungry, I made a little too much pasta." Joe pressed his lips into a thin line, furrowing his brow and shrugging his shoulders slightly at you.
"I meant you, the food smells good too."
"Oh stop it." Joe mimicked you, covering his hand over his mouth in a pathetic and quite frankly over dramatic attempt to pretend he was embarrassed over your compliment.
Joe poured the wine into your glass, insisting that you taste it to make sure it was the one that you had said you liked beforehand. Great memory. Perfect for the pasta dish that you were about to consume. The indeed heavenly smell of prawn tagliatelle with various vegetables was dished out in front of you. You ate everything, even went in for seconds, it was a good job you didn't eat much today and you had to all intents and purposes starved yourself so that you would be ravenous by the time you had your dinner date.
Was this man ever wrong in his assumptions? Nope. He was a sensational cook, his mum had clearly taught him a lot and he was well trained in the kitchen, perfect as you were up for a dinner date like this every night for the rest of your life if this was the quality of food you would receive.
To top it all off, he had also prepared dessert, an affogato served with home made pistachio ice cream, an eye rolling, taste bud tingling way to finish off your meal indeed. You had polished off the wine too quickly for your liking, the combination of wine heated your cheeks along with the warmth of the house and also being sat across from Joe probably didn't help the matter.
You had retired to the living room after helping him clean up. Joe had insisted that you were his guest and wouldn't lift a finger but after a playful and most valid argument between you, Joe accepted your point of it would get done faster if you did it together. Putting on a movie seemed like the best option to end a solid ten out of ten evening together, a romantic comedy that you had seen at least thirty times in your life. You downed the last of your wine in your glass and set it in front of you on the coffee table, snuggling into Joe's side, he caught the hint pretty quickly and lifted his arm to let you sink into him further. His hand stroked the bare skin of your shoulder where your jumper had faltered a little, sending goose bumps raging their way through your skin.
It wasn't long until the movie was forgotten about, a deeply passionate kiss provoked by Joe himself. He had smoothly managed to push his finger tip toward your jaw, putting enough pressure to make you look up toward him where his free hand came to cup your cheek, bringing you forward to softly connect your lips together. You lifted yourself up with the help of Joe to sit yourself directly on his lap, tongues now involved as begged at your bottom lip for entrance. The kiss became intense, your fingers ran through his untamed curls which were soft and a little frizzy from the humidity of cooking whilst your other hand was wrapped in the chains around his neck, pulling him to be as close to you as possible. The dimmed lighting added to the voluptuousness and your whole body was screaming with desire to be touched in anyway he would dare to.
The kiss broke intermittently as you both panted for just that little bit to regain the oxygen your lungs had lost in the last few minutes.
"Shall we go get a little more comfortable, love?" Joe offered, stroking his thumb over your cheek giving you a smile that could heal the world.
"I'd love to." Joe kept you in his grasp, lifting himself up off of the sofa and you instantly obliged to wrap your legs around his waist. He carried you upstairs and into his bedroom, using his elbow to switch on the light before he slowly set you down on your back onto the foam mattress that you immediately thought was going to be a great nights sleep from the instant comfort you felt. Joe rested himself by the side of you, propped up on one elbow as his hand magnetised itself straight back to your cheek. He examined your features for a moment, staring through into your soul, your eyes following every muscle that worked in the doe eyes that sparkled towards you.
"Just to be clear you do want-" Joe whispered shyly, but before he could finish it was a response you didn't even have to think about.
"I do, I really do." He knew you were on the same page, his lips coming back to join yours in the most gratifying and pleasurable kiss. Electricity was shooting it's way down to your core, followed by anxiety that he may not like what he saw underneath your clothing.
You broke the kiss this time, pushing all doubts out of your mind as you sat up to remove your jumper dress, leaving yourself in your matching underwear, slowly looking up to witness his reaction.
It was very much worth it.
Joe's eyes had grown lustful, extremely excited to see you looking so vulnerable for him. Joe pushed his hands towards the back of your bra, stopping for a second to look at you for reassurance.
"May I?"
You giggled. "You may."
Joe touched you delicately like you were made of porcelain, not wanting to break you but at the same time really wanting to feel every ounce of you. He massaged your breasts in the palm of his hands, lightly pinching your nipples and gaining a whimper from the sensitivity that it caused.
"You like that, baby?" Baby. That was the first time he had called you that and you hoped it would not be the last.
A stifling yes was all you could manage, his touch riling you up good and proper as he laid you down back into an easier position to access so that his mouth could taste where his fingers had just influenced.
Soft moans were making the erection in Joe's trousers twitch as he worked his way down with unhurried yet deliberate little embracing kisses down your body. His hands following where his lips had just caressed until he was knelt down before you, placing your feet at the edge of the bed, reaching upward to slide your panties down and fully off. You were stark naked and his bush baby eyes had never shimmered brighter than they were, his jaw could of fell to the floor the way his mouth gaped open looking down at you.
"You're so fucking beautiful, I am so lucky." There was that sigh again, oh so delightful to observe.
Joe planted more kisses along your thighs before working his way towards your slit, guiding his hands to open it up so that he could start by licking a small stripe down to the base of you with the tip of his tongue. A louder moan escaped you this time.
"Relax darling, I want to make you feel so good."
When he got into a more focussed position, his hands reached for yours, intertwining your fingers together as you both gave a little reassuring squeeze to let each other know it was okay. His muscle massaged against your clit, making the muscles in your legs twinge each time he slipped it over a particular spot. He pressed succulent kisses against you with each taste, humming and breathing in the scent of you.
"That feels so good." You mewled.
"Mmm." Joe answered, he was in too deep for a truly more accurate reply.
His movements got a little faster and heavier against your bud, your body squirming around the sheets, your fingers pressing harder into his knuckles before he let one of your hands go, your instant reaction was to massage your boob and play with yourself a little. Joe surprised you by pushing a finger inside of you, the cold metal of his ring touching your entrance when the entirety of his digit made it's way up. He added another shortly, curling them upwards but keeping the pace gently measured to really make you feel even better than you could have ever imagined.
It all ended too quickly as Joe pushed himself away from you, ridding the contact from his fingers and wiping the back of his hand over his mouth to dry himself off.
"Why did you stop?"
"I can't take it anymore, I need to feel myself inside of you, you feel too good like this, god knows how you'll feel like that." Joe undressed himself and you watched his defined figure unravel before you, gawking from his neck down, not too toned but just right. His cock stood to attention, leaking pre-cum from being so heavily turned on from his time during his little cunninglingus fun. You were impressed with everything he had to offer, why wouldn't you be impressed with the sheer just above average size he was packing.
"You are perfect Quinn." You bit down onto your bottom lip, hypnotising him immediately with the way your eyes clung to his.
"No baby, that's you." BABY. BABY. B A B Y.
Joe lined himself up over you, not letting you move from your previous state, silently insisting that you relax whilst he continued to make you both feel incredible. He rubbed his cock between your slit, gaining some of his own spit and your slick to lube him up for easier access.
"Are you sure-"
"I'm sure, baby." It was your turn to mock him whimsically but he seemed to drink it in as you did, the pet name in particular. Joe pushed himself inside of you slowly, inch by inch filling you, your walls instantaneously clenching around him sending a ferocious groan straight from Joe's mouth.
"Just as I thought." He said.
You giggled a little too suddenly. "What?"
"Heavenly."
Joe began to rock his hips back and fourth into you, the girth alone sent your back arching as he leant down, the muscles in his arms flexing to keep him hovering above you, his chains dangling around your chin as he thrusted back and fourth. Sharp breathes and the heat of passion were strong between the two of you, a rush of new found energy had you both singing each other's names like a prayer. The movements were sloppy yet so eager, fiery yet heartfelt. You looked into each others eyes with promise and sensibility. If you weren't mistaken, the look of love. Too lost in your thoughts, you were brought back down to the present to see Joe's lips moving, your hearing came back into play once you had stopped being so caught in your brain.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Never better."
"Did you hear what I said?" Joe pushed into you a little harder this time making you gasp.
"Evidently not." You breathed out a distorted moan followed by a chuckle.
"Be mine." Joe repeated himself hoping that you heard him loud and clear this time.
"I already am." You smiled as soon as he did, his lips crashed against yours, your heavily beautiful kiss moving in time with that of his hips, stopping sporadically to take a breath or to get out the breathless whimpers you needed to let escape.
The knot snapped inside your stomach when he hit one final thrust, sending you both over the edge together. Your bodies tingling from head to toe, the sensation you wished would last a lifetime and more from the stimulation and pure feeling you were eating up at this very moment.
"That was-" Joe was left stuttering so much that he had to pause.
"Amazing?" You finished.
"Exactly." Joe leaned down to kiss you one last time before pulling out, your orgasms rid to their full potential, it had made it all the more zealous to have reached your peaks together.
You ran to the bathroom to flush out what you needed to, cleaning yourselves up before returning to Joe's bed, the pyjamas long forgotten about that you had packed, a comforting thought that you now would be able to sleep skin to skin, happy and tranquil. Joe rushed downstairs to turn the tv off, not long after returning and making a huge leap towards the bed to which you jumped out of your skin when you realised he was almost about to crush you the same way he could have done the duckling on your second date.
It was all laughter and mind numbing chatter for the rest of the night, you laid in Joe's arms, your ear just resting above his heart which beat steady and relaxed.
"You meant it?" Joe mentioned and you looked up at him dazed and confused in your exhausted state.
"Meant what?" You asked.
"That you were mine." Joe looked deeply into your eyes, looking for the answers before you spoke them.
"Always."
"Perfect." Joe planted a kiss onto your forehead, his fingers making light work stroking up and down the top of your back.
"That's you." You nestled your face into his chest.
"Sweet dreams then, my darling girl."
You laid in the same position until the sun rose and the light dimmed it's way through the corners of Joe's curtains. A new day had never felt so good, especially beginning it in the arms of your man. Perfect.
idk why but I think it would be funny reader stuck in the elevator with joe and reader freaking out bc the elevator stopped while joe is all soft and trying to calm her down
YES excellent – i merged this idea with another request from anon who asked for a story that starts on the tube, so, here we go... a new five-part series! here's part one! thanks for the request, you're well sexy and the best, love ya for life xo
Wordcount: 2.6K
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Between Floors and Feelings
part one - part two - part three - part four - part five
“Rough night?”
You knew what this looked like.
You understood why the person who you'd sat down next to immediately got up and moved a few seats down. Why they avoided the drama of it all.
You understood why the lady opposite you stared at the floor and nothing but the floor, pretending that she hadn't seen you, probably because that would just be easiest for everyone involved, the politest thing to do.
You understood why the handsome stranger at the end of the carriage kept looking over, his big round eyes overflowing with pity for the runaway bride in the dirty dress, mascara stains all down her face and her hair a tangled up mess.
You got it.
You probably would’ve felt the same had you witnessed a girl in a wedding dress sit down in an empty seat, sort of dazed and empty-looking, numb to the stares and whispers – if people even whispered at all; the tube was notoriously quiet, always and forever.
“Rough night?” a boy from a group of four, maybe five, called over, and the rest of them all tried to hide their laughs.
Badly.
It was obvious they’d been drinking and you guessed they were on their way to the next party. Off to find another bar or a club that still let people in after the last tube had gone.
You made direct eye-contact with the kid, and you looked exhausted the way people can only look exhausted after they’ve cried for a good while.
Made sense, since, you know, you’d cried for a good while.
You just looked at this boy, who thought maybe he’d get a reaction out of you, but your lack of expression and unwavering stare quickly made him grow uncomfortable. Made his buddies shove his shoulders as they told him to leave her alone man, suddenly all respectful and well-mannered.
They felt the vibe. None of this was fucking funny.
It was enough to get him to back off, and thank fuck they all got off at Leicester Square – of course they did – and when the doors closed again, you noticed the carriage was mostly empty now.
A glance sideways told you the handsome stranger who’d been sneaking looks at you was still there.
Watching you.
What an outfit to be seen in by someone who had looks that would usually make you sit up a little straighter. Would make you faff with your hair a bit. Would make you stick your chin out and push your shoulders back, just in case he looked at you again.
You absolutely didn’t give a single shit about it now.
Couldn't care less about what you currently looked like.
You knew your face was a mess of streaky foundation with black mascara marks all the way down to your chin and, fuck it, you weren’t even planning on washing it off tonight. You’d wallow in bed and probably would cry some more before you’d fall asleep.
Tomorrow could be the day on which you’d care.
Maybe.
Right now all you’d wanted to do was murder someone, then sleep, and also, empty the rest of your bladder.
Perhaps that was the only thing about tonight that brought you secret joy; the memory of squatting over your boss’s handbag to piss right into it. You had to stop in a scurry when you heard footsteps coming up the stairs and didn’t want to be caught, but, if you had been, ultimately, it wouldn't have mattered.
You had resigned with immediate effect when you'd seen them.
Finding her unguarded handbag on your way out was exactly what she fucking deserved. You knew you'd probably regret it later, but for right now, it was all you fucking had.
The train stopped at Covent Garden, and it took a second for your body to get up to get out. Like the signals your eyes and ears picked up took longer to travel to the right parts of your brain, that then following signals took longer to travel from your brain to the right parts of your body.
You had to lift up your skirt, two fists grabbing at the tulle, to make sure your feet didn't get caught up as you stepped onto the platform.
With the increasingly annoying See It, Say It, Sorted repeating itself for the millionth time within the fourteen minutes you'd been on the tube, the doors beeped behind you before you heard them roll shut.
The platform felt empty, just a couple other people making their way towards the exit, and with your zest for life currently non-existent, the sensation of the wind from the tube leaving felt nice. So, you took a second, just stood there and thought to yourself how long it would take for it to become weird that you weren't moving.
There were just too many things to freak out over, far too much to completely overwhelm you, but it was almost like none of it was real. As if every single survival mechanism your body held within itself had switched on. They all made sure that the only thing you had going inside your brain was a low, constant hum. Nothing else.
It was almost like you weren't even there.
Like the whole evening had been a dream.
Like you didn't even really exist in this moment right now.
Yea. You were definitely dissociating.
You felt like a ghost a little.
One that had to pee, still. That motivated you enough to turn your head, tired heavy-lidded eyes reading the signs to follow them out.
Exit. To the lifts and stairs.
You were nearly home.
Home, where you were definitely 100 per cent going to beeline it straight from your front door right into bed.
Just that thought alone brought you back into yourself a little more, but it was just so you could tear up again. You felt the hot pinpricks behind your eyes and quickly shoved yourself out again.
No more crying, please.
You could just... float down the underground tunnels behind yourself. Follow your own footsteps out of the station. You knew were you lived. You would find yourself there later.
It was fine.
It was after the last theater rush, so for Covent Garden standards, it felt eerily quiet. Not that you were complaining. Waiting for the lifts whilst crushed between a bunch of tourists was the last thing you wanted right now.
But stepping into an empty lift with just one other person stepping in behind you, seeing just a few people step out on the other side, felt weird too.
Especially when you looked, and you saw that the one other person was the handsome stranger from your carriage. He'd apparently gotten off too, and suddenly, you felt embarrassed.
You were wearing a dirty wedding dress. Had black marks all over your face, all over your hands.
He looked fucking stunning. All prim and proper. Vintage-looking tweed green suit. Olive-y green. Gorgeous and well put together, the literal exact opposite from you in your current state. Like, sure, his curls were a little messy, but it seemed part of his look.
As the lift doors closed behind you, the stranger gave you a polite nod accompanied by a tight lipped smile. And you would have returned it, would've made it a kind, well-mannered exchange of acknowledgement, but, you weren't really inside of your body, remember?
All you did was look at him a second, face all blank, and you only slightly noticed that the empathy in his eyes doubled right in front of you before you turned away. You turned and slumped against the side, head resting back, eyes scanning the ads but not really reading anything, and you wondered if these lifts ever got cleaned. If someone ever took a rag and some cleaning solution and wiped down all the panels. By the look of things, probably not.
What if that was your job?
Clean the Covent Garden tube station lifts every day. There were four of them, and you imagined they all could use a good scrub.
You honestly wouldn't mind a job like it. You needed a new job anyway, 't was close to home and you liked the sense of accomplishment cleaning something incredibly dirty gave you. Where you could really see the difference.
You were doing a stellar job at distracting yourself from the current situation you were in. Made sure to stay all the way out of your body. Made sure that this veil that separated you from the real world, that blurred the boundaries between what was real and what was not, made sure that it stayed in place.
You were so close to home.
Wanted to be there right this second.
Fuck, you were so tired.
Maybe your new job could be figuring out this whole teleportation thing. See if you could make that work for yourself.
You didn't realise that your eyes were staring at the man who stood near where the doors were meant to open when you reached ground floor. Just, comfortably locked at the shoulder seam of his jacket.
Even when he turned his head a little for a quick look before he took a small sip from a half empty water bottle, surely because he could sense your two bulging wet eyeballs burn into his back, you didn't move your eyes.
Felt too nice to keep them there.
But then, without warning, there was a sudden jolt. It shocked you right back into your body and you couldn't help the small gasp that escaped you. The lift had come to an abrupt halt, and the lights flickered for a moment before they settled into a dim glow.
Oh no.
“Oh no,” the barely audible sound of your voice surprised you. Your throat still felt thick from crying, and hearing it out loud just reminded you of it more.
“Is it stuck?”
For a second, you thought that maybe, you were wrong.
You made a mistake.
Clearly you weren't really with it right now, so you didn't really trust your senses currently. You didn't really know what was real and what wasn't and found it difficult to differentiate.
But then the guy who was in there with you looked around, and then lowered his head. By the way his eyes moved, you could tell he was trying to listen for something.
“Are we stuck?” you tried again, and his eyes shot up to look at you.
No answer.
Fuck.
A mix of emotions washed over you; disbelief, annoyance, a new good dose of self-pity along with a strong healthy pang of sheer panic.
Cute.
It was kind of exactly how you felt about an hour ago.
If only there was a handbag of someone you really hated to piss into to elevate the situation a little. It helped a lot before.
“I think we're stuck.”
That was exactly the wrong thing to hear and it immediately threw you for a loop.
A panic attack.
The whole ordeal.
Your heart quickened its pace, an unsettling sensation tightened your whole chest and your breathing picked up, became all shallow at a rapid rate. Before you knew it, the box you were now trapped in felt like it was shrinking around you and suddenly you were in a place of imminent danger.
You were inside a mortal trap, a tragedy waiting to happen.
You had to sit down.
But your knees were locked.
You didn't know if the moisture you felt on your face were tears or sweat.
Oh man, it was hot in there. Did this guy feel hot in there too? Jesus Christ, why were wedding gowns so fucking restricting?
You saw how the emergency button was pressed, just once. Sensible. And then this guy waited patiently as he listened to static coming from the little intercom below it.
Well, fuck that.
In your panic you kind of threw yourself at this emergency button and with frantic hands and shaking fingers, you pressed it over and over and over, until two big hands took hold of you and guided your arms down.
“It's OK, don't worry. Help will come,”
Those words meant nothing to you, no matter how kindly they were said.
“Hello?!” you shouted like anyone would hear you, eyes big and darting, and you scanned the rest of the lift for more buttons.
Your phone!
Of course.
You fished your phone out, panicked movements making you nearly drop it.
No service.
Why?!
“Hey, breathe,” the far-too-good-looking-for-his-own-good stranger tried, but you had already slung both arms over your head and got the jitters in your legs, desperately needing to move and so you started pacing.
Two small steps towards the back, two small steps back to where this guy was stood.
“This is just perfect, what the fuck, this is just–” the loud and sudden sob that escaped you made you slap a hand over your mouth.
“Calm down, we're safe, you need to–” he huffed a humourless laugh through his nostrils, all obvious nerves and tense uncomfortability. “You need to breathe,”
And he was right. You did need to breathe. You started feeling light-headed a little, felt your cheeks start to tingle, so you covered your face with both hands and squatted down, making the tulle skirt of your dress take up half the floorspace.
He joined you down there and held out his opened water bottle to you.
“Do you need some water?”
You didn't move your hands as you shook your head no.
“Okay, let me try that again. My name's Joe, I think you're having an anxiety attack, and I think you need some water. Here, have some water,”
“I don't want water.”
It was definitely sweat and tears. You felt clammy and cold but somehow uncomfortably hot at the same time.
“Breathe in, hey,” a finger got snapped in front of your face several times. That didn't do shit. “You're just breathing out, you've got to let air in too.”
And just for a second, the smallest fraction of a teeny tiny moment, everything suddenly cleared up in your mind. Comfort and ease took over and you felt... well, nothing.
Felt like drifting.
You felt everything flush down your body, all the way from your face right into your toes until it was all gone.
Just for a mere second, though.
“I'm fine,” you croaked before everything went slack. You lost your balance, your eyes rolled back and just like that, everything went dark.
“Oh, shit, oh shit,” Joe muttered, moving forward from sitting on his haunches to pressing his knees into the fabric of your dress as he tried to reach for you in a flash.
He got you by the arm, his open water bottle terribly in the way, and his other hand managed to reach around your neck. He got to slowly lower you down, ease you towards the floor entirely unsure of what to do next.
What did he need to do next?!
He was trapped in a tube station lift, on a stop he didn't even need to get out of, with an unconscious runaway bride who'd quite clearly was having the absolutely worst day of her life ever.
What the fuck was he going to do?
Then, behind him, from the corner of the elevator, the intercom static picked up again and was followed by a crackly voice.
You find yourself in a bar taking shots with Joseph Quinn and leaving with his phone number
Therapy Angst, tw depression, hint of smutty time
You're getting confronted with yourself after Joe's breakthrough and he helps you realize that seeking professional help isn't something to be ashamed of
Glasses Fluff blurb
Joe being an annoying little shit and keeps stealing your glasses (affectionately)
Not my type Fluff
One sided feelings can destroy friendships, so you and Joe make it very clear that you are not each other's type, pinky promise clear
Bread in the oven part 1 fluff blurb
You feed them, you love them and watch them grow...Just ignore the eating part
Baby and Scones part 2 fluff blurb
Title says it all, Joe and baby are baking scones
Dating app dilemma mostly fluff, hint of angst
Dating apps suck and so do men...but maybe not all of them
The butterfly 18+ smut, fluff
A special book keeps you and Joe busy (and pushes you both to your limits)
Not daddy fluff blurb
You're going down memory lane and revisit the show that brought you and Joe together but your daughter is only interested in one person
The marriage proposal(s) fluff
How many times does Joe have to propose to you for you to take him seriously
Make a wish fluff blurb
Celebrating Joe's birthday your own way
Flowers fluff
First impressions are the best impressions - and you certainly delivered
Flatmates with benefits 18+ smut, fluff
Having the perks of a relationship while still staying single sounds like the perfect combination until it just doesn't cut it anymore.
Requests are open, feel free to use my ask box
(reblogs and comments are very appreciated additional to your likes)
Authors Note: Part 2. I didn't think this other version of Joe I'm fantasising about would get much attention but turns out we like the cocky boy. Thanks for reading, please reblog if you enjoy it or leave a comment if you wish to kept up to date with future parts! 🥰
Summary: You’d set your sights on him and he on you. It all started with a visit to a newly talked about bar which kept you coming more regularly, in the end not just for a drink but yet the inevitability of a creeping flame set alight by a stare which kept dragging you back. After all, lust shouts and love whispers and in the end, only the heart knows the difference.
Under 18's DNI.
Warnings: Smutty and angsty af
Word Count: 3.6k
You were up all night, there was no doubt about it. Your mind pondering constantly on what tomorrow was going to bring, what tomorrow meant and what would happen between the two of you. There had been some quite flirtatious remarks back and fourth between you and the fact you were correct in assuming that he'd remembered you after a brief encounter, assuming that he meets plenty of women a day in his own bar? Now that made you feel special. That made you feel something that you didn't know if it would be worth screaming from the rooftops about or keeping quiet and retaining your dignity; after all, it was only early days.
You stayed in your attire, refusing to take it off because it was what he'd made you feel good in, that he'd given you the time of day even though he was busy with work, that he'd pulled you away from the perverted creeps that lurked in the shadows, laying on top of your bed you found yourself dreaming consciously about him, Joe. His name was that of a sweet melody that drained through your body, seeping through your veins and now he'd admitted that he was kind of into you, wanting to see you again, you were dying to see him again instantly. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough, tomorrow was already today and you were nail bitingly nervous from the inside out. The fact he'd given you no food for thought and had to keep you guessing added to his mysterious vibe.
You'd admittedly found your hand creeping through your underwear that was revealed to the lonely bedroom from your skirt being tucked up above your hips, imagining those deep, perplexing brown eyes staring back at you searching your soul, you closed your own eyes in attempt to see him properly, his lips were parted as he leaned over you, leaning down on one elbow directly next to your head, his hands mirrored your own movement, rubbing against your cunt, fingers finding the exact spot to hit, circling your aching bud whilst his retinas bore into you. Your squirms around the bed became frantic as your thighs pressed together, he comes to lean his lips to your ear, a short subtle and deep whisper erupting from his vocal chords: "Open your legs for me, pretty girl."
You were grasped quickly away from your stunning and erotic fantasy, moaning out loud, your eyes flying open to the realisation that you were alone, his voice sounded so apparent and altogether there in your thoughts that it almost felt real.
The words he'd spoken to you, the home truths and the cursed promises were reeling over and over in your head:
Just to put it out there, you're really fucking attractive darling. I know you came here to see me again. I know the feelings mutual. You give me your number and once I get off work tomorrow, you come here and I'll show you what you came for tonight.
There had to be more to what he was suggesting. There was one thing playing on your mind out of everything, you hadn't got his number back, he'd not text you, he'd not called and he'd not given any inclination of what time tomorrow you should be heading to the bar. Is this what happens? He was to keep you on your toes and not message, the audacity of that flummoxed you. Maybe he'd been too busy and forgotten about you, you were becoming to rapidly eager when you shouldn't even care about that? He was still too much of a stranger. You stared at your phone, the clock just barely turning 7am, you decided to get up, take a shower and get ready ahead of your long wait for the inexplicable and hopefully inevitable message to come through.
You'd been sat inexplicably twiddling at your thumbs for the last couple of hours, picking up your phone and then launching it across your sofa in disappointment to no notification and when you did you'd scramble to grab at it like an excited teenager, to avoid further distress, you went over to your bedroom and put it onto your bedside table, that way you'd not think about it as much. Except you did. Every deep sigh you took made you contemplate whether this was a joke, whether he really did just speak to all the girls this way, a little way to flirt for a while to pass time then get you out and rather just leave you hanging.
The soft features about him didn't explain this bewildering theory of yours, there was more to Joe than that meets the eye and you were certain of that. This is why you didn't trust your instincts one bit, the last time you almost did that you were completely wrong. The man remembered you, you of all people and that was enough to put up, shut up and wait it out.
A nap on your sofa sorted you right out, though only meaning to shut your eyes for half an hour was the initial indication, four long hours had passed and you scrambled from your own filth, skidding through the laminate flooring of your flat to your bedroom to look what time it was. Midday. Your eyes grew when they looked an inch down to find a notification from an unknown number, you entered your passcode in your phone wrong at least three times before managing to get to read the prolonged message.
Joe: Hi pretty girl. Sorry for not texting, hectic life and all that. See you very soon? It's Joe by the way.
As if he had to clarify who he was? Not like you'd been waiting for this stupid message for the last thirteen or so hours. Idiot. Though there it was, your newly given nickname now staring back at you in the face, did you play it off cool or did you sound eager and desperate?
You: No worries. Was beginning to think I'd given you the wrong number, oops. Do I get to know your cunning plans yet?
You had to sit down. Your head was rushing madly and your heart was almost being vomited out of your mouth in anticipation.
Joe: It wouldn't of mattered because you'd of turned up anyway, tell me I'm right sweetheart ;)
You: Confident much?
Joe: I see the way you look at me...
You: Could say the same about you...
Joe: Touché love. Be at the bar for 4pm?
You: I'll be there sweetheart.
Joe: I can already tell you're rolling those eyes, it's driving me mad.
You: I'll make sure to do it around 4:01pm right in your direction.
Joe: Watch what happens when you do.
You threw your phone to the other side of the bed this time, screaming but no sound came out, just a mild screech, falling back and kicking your legs up in the air like you'd just heard the best news in the world. You didn't care about all the stupid thoughts that'd crossed your mind earlier, they'd all disappeared, the will to be trifled with made it all worth it.
You counted down the hours, not like you'd already felt like you'd spent half of your life waiting for this man, you'd slowly got ready ahead of schedule, no idea what you were to be doing so you opted in for a casual kind of outfit, just jeans and an off the shoulder jumper. You were overthinking the time you'd spend together, should you be bringing anything, should you come prepared for a more formal occasion, is this a date? Did he officially ask you out? No he didn't, but he wanted to see you again so I guess that suffices in what some people may class as one.
You'd got to the bar by 3:50pm, too eager to say the least. Waiting outside on the public bench until 3:59pm exactly, you wandered through the familiar doors. A little emptier than you'd seen it last night, you wandered over to the stool you'd sat on both times you'd came in.
"Hey." A man looked over who was wiping down the tables, you swerved straight to look, almost jumping out of your skin since you didn't notice him when you came in originally. "We're closed, we'll re-open at 7pm."
"I know I-"
"She's here for me." Joe walked through the Staff only door, looking as beautiful as ever. His white shirt complimenting his figure, a couple of buttons to which you could see a little chest hair sprouting out and the adorned silver chains made him all the more sexier.
"I'll see you later mate, get yourself off." Joe shook hands with the man, eyes firing straight back to you. He waited until his employee had grabbed his jacket and closed the door shut, Joe headed over locking it behind him and taking a deep sigh, one you couldn't work out whether it be stress or nerves.
"Hi." You gulped down a ball of saliva, hiding your own anxiety. He didn't even respond, just kept gawking at you silently, the warm chocolatey stare was truly astonishing.
"Cat got your tongue?" You can't believe you even used that dumb expression.
"Look how pretty you are for me." You squeezed your legs tight when Joe bit down on his lip, a welcoming sight indeed. The footsteps got louder the closer he came over, walking in such a slow pace you just wanted to grab a hold of him and yank him so he'd hurry up, purely for the better view. That same smirk you'd missed appeared on his features instantly, his eyes falling from your face down to your feet and back up again.
"So what're we doing?"
"You tell me. You came to see me last night didn't you? Had that look in your eye. I could tell you wanted something, desired something." Joe leaned against the bar next to you, his arms folded against it, turning his head to blink at you, you rolled your eyes back at him in an attempt to wind him up, as promised.
You stumbled on your words, he'd truly made you speechless.
"I-I-"
"You- You- Why would you come back here randomly? All by yourself, obviously in search of what you need, or should I say, who you need."
He was the cockiest motherfucker you'd ever met but a god damn dreamy one at that and you loathed every second of it.
"Don't flatter yourself." Joe's eyebrows and hands raised up in a quick defeat like a rabbit in headlights yet his mind clearly worked quickly on a response back to you, he seemed to be good with words and that was seriously demeaning yet so hot.
You rolled your eyes again.
"Remember my last text?" Joe's lips were set in a straight line.
You shook your head. You remembered well, but you obviously wished to be reminded of it. Joe turned his full body to you, reaching out for your hands and pulling you off the stool, bringing you to straddle between his spread thighs on the stool he now sat on next to you. Your cheeks flushed in a matter of seconds, was this really happening right now? Joe sat up straight, leaning forward to your ear.
"Watch what happens when you do." He leaned back to look at the state of your exhilarated features, smirking lightly once more. You rolled your eyes again, hoping his next move would prove to you that he was willing to show you exactly what was to happen.
Joe stood from his stool, making himself look taller than he was, making you feel tiny. Instantly, he grabbed at your hips, lifting you onto the counter of the bar.
"I warned you." Your lips crashed together in the most disgustingly passionate kiss you'd ever encountered, you were panting instantly from the lack of oxygen that was given from the space that had now closed between you, the butterflies in your stomach raging from not so much nerves but the fever and delirium of making out with what was almost a complete stranger. Your arms wrapped around his neck pretty much the same time as his tongue plunged itself into your mouth, humming as his senses got a taste of you.
He pulled away from you and yet a new found confidence in you managed to force him back to touch your lips with his once more, you felt that same smirk you loved to hate rise against your mouth, his hands wandering down your hair, to your neck and down your back, both soothing and exploring you wholly. You pulled back this time in search of the air your lungs were craving.
"Is that all you got sweetheart?" You pried a little deeper, making his blood boil when you rolled your eyes again.
"Do I have your permission?" Joe held back onto your waist tightly.
"Permission for what?" You kind of knew what he was insinuating when you looked down to see the shadow of a large bulge trapped inside his trousers.
"To fuck you senseless." You removed Joe's hands from you and he stood back when you leaped off of the bar. Pushing him by his chest to fall back a few more steps, he watched as you undressed yourself down to your underwear.
You bit down on your lip, mirroring his image of earlier, when his jaw almost fell to the floor at the sight of you.
"You're such a naughty girl, shit. My kind of girl." Joe walked forward but you reached out to place your hand back on his chest immediately, stopping him as still as a statue in his wake, he obeyed to you like you were some sort of goddess, becoming patient all of a sudden.
"I believe you're still dressed." You tilted your head to the side in a moderately cheeky state.
Joe removed his clothes faster than you could blink twice, his cock springing free from his boxers making your eyes almost pop out of their sockets. He wasn't too big nor too small, perfect in size but wide in girth, the perfect ratio.
"Bend over right now." You rolled your eyes at him once more and turned, slowly removing your cotton panties, feeling them fall to the floor once past your thighs, you kicked them out of the way and bent over as instructed.
Joe came up behind you, falling straight to his knees, patting at your thighs to open them slightly, you moved them open and without a second thought, Joe pushed his face right up to your cunt, tonguing straight inside your hole, humming along with your instant cries of pleasure. He fisted at his length slowly, throbbing to the way you tasted and the sounds of your rhythmic moans. The more noise you made, the faster his tongue would dart in and out of you. His hands were clutched to your ass, squeezing at the peachy cheeks. Joe slurped and tongue fucked you well, you couldn't imagine what the real deal would be like if his smaller muscle worked like this.
"Joe, fuck I-"
"Oh no. Not just yet, only good girls get to cum." Joe muttered, the vibrations of his voice sent straight through your core.
"Please." You bit onto your arm as tears seeped out of you, your release evident when he replaced his tongue for his fingers, fatter than you'd anticipated, he moved them through you erratically, leaving little nibbles against your ass cheek that his hand once occupied. You heard a wicked laugh behind you, making you clench around his digits in utter desperation.
"I get to fuck you first and then we'll see about letting that pretty pussy have it's orgasm." You gritted your teeth, his fingers pulling out of you and being replaced by his cock, stretching you out and filling you inch by inch, his hands slowly became one with your skin, his finger tips making marks around your waist as he didn't even give time to adjust, he began to pound ferociously, sending you into a fucked out mess.
"Fuckkkk, you're so tight. Are you going to be a good girl for me?" You nodded, but the ruckus that was being created from him railing you against the counter was mistook for ignorance on his part.
Joe's hand came down with a blow against your ass, not once but twice, harder the second time.
"Answer me. Are you going to be." His thrusts were powerful, his balls slapping up against you. "MY good fucking girl."
"Yes! Yes!" You squealed.
"Yes what?" Joe panted.
"I'll be your good girl. I swear."
You could feel the smirk from behind you as he continued to pound into you hard like you were a useless toy, a rag doll.
"Look at you, you're such a mess. Cum for me, pretty girl." Your body gave way, your cunt throbbed and tightened, you felt as though you were paralysed from the waist down, your teeth latched to your arm almost drawing blood from it's intensity.
The way you reacted to your release had Joe fucking into you, moaning at the top of his lungs. He pulled out without letting you know, you felt empty all of a sudden.
"On your knees." You turned and fell straight down, obedient and understanding for what he wanted more than anything.
"Open your mouth."
You opened up, staring up at him, Joe's eyes focussed on you as he jerked at his cock, seed flowing straight into your mouth after one last tug. He moaned your name clearer and no less beautiful than you'd ever heard him say it. You swallowed without thought watching him grin his teeth back at you, a little devilish chuckle following shortly after. He offered you his hand, standing you back up. Joe headed straight for the bathroom, leaving you alone. You grabbed a hold of your clothes which were thrown in various puddles around you, redressing yourself and hopping back onto your now obviously claimed stool.
As he came out, he gave you the most innocent and sweetest smile you'd ever seen; there was the soft boy you'd been wondering about again. The façade he puts on was so clearly an act, he was obviously a sweet person inside, but you'd quickly realised it was something you'd have to earn, especially after what had just occured.
"I couldn't stop myself, after knowing you clearly wanted me, do you know how much that made me want you?" Joe spoke out, interrupting your thoughts.
"Do you still want me?" You asked out right, like was this a one time thing? A one night stand if that's what you could call it, because it's not everyday you come and fuck a random stranger, it wasn't in you to do that ever, it was quite clear he'd got some form of hold on you to bring that side out of you which you were usually so shy about in such a hurry.
"Come by tomorrow and I'll definitely show you how much I want you again."
You furrowed your brows a little bit, slightly confused. Did he not want to get to know you?
"Is that all you want me for?" You were scared of the response but you had to know. Joe moved closer to you, pushing his knuckle up against your chin, bringing your eyes to meet his.
"Absolutely not. But it's a bonus." He made you feel like nobody else ever had. You were longing for someone you didn't even know at all, it was a dangerous game that you were entering but you were adamant to play along and see what happened next.
"You'd better be going, my staff will be back soon. I'll text you." Joe leaned down to plant a peck on your lips, holding back from stopping, he prolonged the kiss from ending, his fingers holding your chin, kissing you again and again. You left shortly after, more clueless than you'd felt before entering the bar in the first place. As you shut the door, you crossed over the road to head back to your house, turning back with a random instinct after hearing footsteps that weren't far behind you, you turned to see another girl heading into the bar, shadily looking side to side to make sure nobody was looking, someone that you were pretty sure was not his employee.
Your heart beat ten to the dozen, yet you had no right to be angry. So what, you were probably just another girl he wanted to fuck? Yet why were you fighting the urge to cry.
Your phone buzzed in your pocket, a notification from Joe.
Joe: Same time tomorrow? You were such a good girl for me.
Locking your phone and shoving it back into your pocket, you almost turned back to bash on the doors to find out the truth. Feeling overcome with more anxiety than independence you removed yourself from the sight of that cursed bar, away from the man you thought for a second might have actually wanted you for more than just sex.
You decided the better option was to try and call him, you pressed the call button and placed the phone to your ear, the tone rang once and then was sent straight to voicemail. You were just a fuck.
Shaking with upset and now full blown anger, you stared at the block button, stopping yourself for a second, holding yourself against a brick wall as it was too much effort to stand, your body felt heavy and dirty, your head was a trainwreck. Your thumb did the work for you, blocking Joe's number after much deliberation.
