Joe and I have been best friends our entire lives. Nothing and nobody has gotten between us. When he moved to LA to start acting, I moved with him and went to UCLA.
I was busy getting my degree in history education as Joe was getting his role as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things.
The truth is, Joe and I are probably too close. Things have definitely happened in our past that should've destroyed our friendship. We've fought, we've had issues with who the other was dating, we've lied to each other. But the one thing that really should've ruined our friendship was back in our senior year of high school when Joe and I slept together.
We were at a graduation party and had found our way to the drinks. In our drunk haze, we both admitted to being virgins and not wanting to be them anymore. We woke up the next morning in Joe's bed with our clothes scattered around his room.
That had the potential of being one of the most awkward mornings ever, but we decided to get dressed and act like nothing happened. I'm not sure if Joe remembered what we did, but I definitely remembered every second of it. To be honest, I wasn't that drunk.
"Y/N!"
I rolled my eyes but kept my attention on my homework.
"Y/N? Y/N! Where are you? Y/N. Y/N. Y/N!"
I was in the final semester and knew that whatever Joe wanted was only going to distract me from getting this project done on time. I bit back a laugh when I heard Joe running down the hallway.
I ignored it when my door was kicked open. It got harder to hold in my laughter when I heard Joe's little whimper.
"Y/N," he whined. "Why didn't you answer me?"
"Because I'm busy," I said, forcing my voice not to have any emotion.
I finally broke when Joe closed my laptop. He grabbed it and put it on my nightstand before plopping next to me.
"I need attention," he sighed dramatically as he laid his head on my lap and closed his eyes.
"You don't get enough of that at work?" I teased. I smiled when he gave me a glare with one eye open.
"Speaking of work," he mumbled as he closed his eye again, "when are you going to watch the first season with me?"
"Joe," I sighed as I started running my fingers through his hair. "I have an 18-page lesson plan due Monday."
"It's Friday," he said, opening his eyes again and pouting. "You have all weekend to plan."
"Joe," I started again.
"If you binge-watch the first season with me tonight, I promise I won't bug you the rest of the weekend. You can lock yourself in your room and I'll leave you alone."
I narrowed my eyes at him, debating. "Swear?"
I laughed when he lifted his hand, holding out his pinky.
"Swear," he nodded. I smiled as I wrapped my pinky around his. He laughed victoriously as he sat up and got off my bed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room. We sat down and Joe grabbed the remote.
We ordered pizza and spent the rest of the night watching Stranger Things. The further we got into the season, the heavier my chest felt. It soon got difficult to watch. I hated seeing the chemistry between Joe and his costar. Something about the way Steve practically worshipped Nancy. . .
Why does this bother me so much?
"You okay?"
I jumped when Joe gently put his hand on my knee. I looked over to see him studying me.
"I'm fine," I stuttered.
"Hey," he said, tightening his grip. "Talk to me."
"Just tired," I shrugged. "I keep stressing about my lesson plan project."
"That's not it," he sighed as he grabbed the remote and paused the show. He turned towards me and signaled for me to spill.
I glanced over at the tv, internally groaning when I realized we had paused it in the middle of a heavy make-out scene between Steve and Nancy. I looked down at my hands as Joe looked up at the tv.
"Y/N," he said slowly. "Is this because. . ."
"It's not," I cut him off. I cleared my throat, still not looking at him. "I already told you. My last project is due on Monday. I have to plan an entire time period unit based off of. . ."
"Come on, Y/N," he interrupted me. "Admit it."
"Admit what?" I asked, acting like I didn't understand what he was hinting at.
"You're jealous of the show."
"Who said I was jealous? That's the opposite of what I am. I don't care. Why should I? You want to kiss your costar? Go for it. No reason for me to stop you. You can kiss whoever you want."
"I didn't choose to kiss her," Joe sighed. "It was in the script."
I opened my mouth to say something but Joe quickly closed the gap between us and pressed his lips firmly to mine.
He snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck, instantly kissing him back. The kiss quickly escalated as we stood up and stumbled into my bedroom. We laughed, breaking the kiss when we fell onto my bed.
"I love that you're jealous over the show," he said, breathing heavily. "I've wanted to make you jealous since senior year."
"You remember that night?"
"Of course I do," he chuckled. "Don't you?"
"Never forgot," I whispered.
Joe smiled as he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I moaned as I started kissing him back. When he broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against mine.
"Y/N," he said under his breath. "You have nothing to be jealous of. Everything I fake-did with Natalia is nothing compared to what you and I drunk-did."
"Swear?"
Joe laughed as he leaned back. He shifted his weight and lifted his hand. I smiled when he held out his pinky.
"Swear."