watching you • joe burrow

times like these

"so i could see what you did october 13th.... we're you lying to me and the family?.....why'd you let me down? don't say sorry now."

grace was upset. once she got back to joe's house, she told him what happened and cried in his arms for what felt like forever.

by the time she was done, his shirt was drenched.

"sorry." grace said looking at his shirt sniffling.

"it's okay, my love." joe said rubbing her back with his thumb.

grace was unbelievably grateful for joe in moments like these, he was always there for her without judgment.

"i think you should talk to him." joe says looking at grace.

"but, he made me so upset. he broke a promise." grace says.

"grace, you know this better than anyone, what if you turn around one day and he is gone." joe says. it was harsh, but it was the truth. "would you want to be mad at him and then he. is gone before you can say 'i love you' one last time?"

"no." grace said looking down. she knew joe was right, although she didn't want him to be. "i'll talk to him."

"okay, let's go. i'll take you." joe says getting up from his couch.

"like right now?" grace says standing open from the couch as well.

"yes." joe says motioning for her to follow him.

joe opened the passenger side door for grace, something he has done since the first time they have gotten into a car together.

joe had to back out of his driveway so he put his hand on the passenger seat so he could see the back of the car. he turned his head so he could see.

before he sat back the right way, he placed a kiss on grace's cheek.

"what should i say?" grace asks once they pulled out of joe's driveway.

"let him talk first, i guarantee he has so much he wants to say." joe says.

"okay." grace says as she nods thinking about the possible things her father could say.

she tends to think about them for a bit to long because she gets snapped out of her trans once they arrive to her father's home.

"i'll wait out here for you." joe says as he unlocks the doors.

"okay, i'll be back." grace says as she gives joe a kiss before getting out of the car.

she decided against using her key to unlock the door, she knocked. supposedly her dad didn't expect her to show up, because he seemed shocked.

"grace? what are you doing here?" her father asked her, clearly shocked.

"i wanted to talk." grace said rocking back and forth between her heal and her toe, something she did a lot.

her father opened the door and they walked to the living room. grace sat down on the end of the couch while her father sat toward the middle, facing her.

"i'm sorry, grace. i didn't intentionally lie to you, i never wanted to. i just didn't know how to tell you. i was scared of being in a relationship myself." he said.

"it's okay, dad. promise. i just wish you would've told me. but i know now and it's okay. i just don't know how i should treat alice." grace says.

"she isn't replacing your mom, grace. i promise. i guess just treat her like one of my friends." zach said. "but like not my friend."

"got it." grace said with a chuckle.

"you know, i thought you weren't going to ever talk to me again." zach said.

"joe kinda told me i should, which he is usually right about." grace admitted.

"you know, us three haven't formally had a dinner together after you two started dating." zach mentioned.

"his parents are coming up to cincinnati in a couple days, maybe we could all go to dinner sometime." grace suggests.

"that sounds like a good idea, text me with the time and stuff." her father said as they walked towards the door. "i love you, star."

"i love you too, dad." grace says with a smile as she walks out of her father's home.

grace walked back to joe's car and got it. he looked at her, trying to read her expression to see how it went.

"how did it go?" joe asked.

"good, everything's fine." grace says with a smile.

"okay," joe says. "that's good."

"we talked about us going to dinner, you and i, my dad and your parents." grace says. "maybe when they come up in a couple of days."

"yeah, that would be nice." joe says not really wanting to talk about the subject.

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grace has never met joe's parents before, but they seem nice, especially his mom. she was kind of nervous. they have been dating for about 6 months now, was it too early? was it too late?

joe picked the rooftop restaurant that him and grace went to when on their first date, many things have changed since then.

grace's entire world was practically thrown upside down. she is dating the guy she never thought or could date, her best friend..... well isn't her best friend anymore. her father has a girlfriend, and she would be meeting her boyfriends parents.

this could either go great or horrible.