Jinjoo was the first one to approach her. She looked concerned, knowing what had happened. She hugged her tight.
"We'll talk on the break, okay?"
"Okay." Ann gave her a reassuring smile.
"You okay, baby?" Said Mark while also hugging her.
"I'm fine, guys. Really." She laughed it off. "Come on, let's get to work."
The rehearsal went smoother than last time. Everyone already knew what they had to do and the atmosphere was a little lighter between Ann and Joe. They were able to interact and even had a few laughs. They were all really pleased with each other.
On the lunch break Ann sat down next to Jinjoo, Mark and Gabi, as she did last time. She really felt the most connection with the three of them. As they started to dig in the food Jinjoo spoke up.
"So how are you feeling? Like, really?"
"I'm... okay. A little overwhelmed still, but okay. It all happened so fast, from strangers to coworkers to somewhat of a fling to strangers again."
"Okay, my main concern is... did anything happen between you guys?" Said Jinjoo putting down her fork.
"No! Who do you think I am?" Ann laughed at her.
"Well, I know who Joe is." She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you got yourself caught in his net. I thought you were smarter than that."
"Jinjoo!" Screamed Mark and put his hand to his chest.
"Just speaking the truth!"
"No, it's okay, Mark. I was stupid." She chuckled. "I'm just happy I didn't do anything I would regret."
"I heard Travis called you both to the office. How was that?" Asked Gabi.
"It was very hard. Nerve wracking. But he's a good man. He means well. He could have fired me, but gave me another chance."
"What?!" Jinjoo squeaked. "I didn't know that!"
"Yeah, relationships between band members is strictly forbidden in their politics."
"Girl, if you got fired because of Joe, I would kick his ass so hard, that he'll regret ever meeting me." Jinjoo stated clenching her fists while looking at Joe across the room.
"Stop." Ann laughed at her.
"Hey." Said a voice behind Ann. She turned around to see it was Kevin. "I was hoping we could talk?"
This took her by surprise but she immediately stood up. "Yes, of course!"
They went out of the cafeteria and into the corridor. There was a bench, so they decided to sit there.
"First of all: are you okay? How are you feeling?"
"Oh my gosh, everyone keeps asking me, I'm fine!" She laughed throwing her hands in the air.
"We're worried about you, that's all. You're new to this celebrity lifestyle and I know it can be a little overwhelming."
"It is, for sure. I had to learn the hard ways." She nodded.
"I wanted to talk to you about Joe." He started.
"Kevin..." she sighed, not really wanting to continue this topic.
"Just let me say it." Ann nodded and sat back to listen.
"I don't know what went down between you two, if there was ever anything, but that's not the point. Joe is... unhinged. And has been for a while now. I mean, he's 33 this year and we really want him to settle down, have kids...."
"Okay, Kevin, get to the point." She rushed him, not really wanting to hear his love history.
"Okay, sorry. From the moment he first saw you at the Sleepover concert, something changed in him. We both saw it with Nick. He was very passionate while talking about you. We were like 'Joe it's just some random backup singer' but he was like 'no, she's not, she's special'. He had multiple videos of you singing on his phone and he kept on showing them to us. Almost like some psycho fan." He laughed. "He was very insisting on you coming to the band. I had no problem with that, but Nick was a little skeptical, thinking he wanted to hire you to... you know. Score you, sorry for saying it like that." He brushed his curls nervously.
"It's okay, Kevin." She gave him a reassuring smile.
"So yeah, eventually they hired you and we've all seen the spark in Joe's eyes. Something we've never seen before. He was mesmerized by you, probably fangirling inside that he's meeting you." That made Ann chuckle. So they both fangirled over meeting each other. "But we knew it wasn't going to end well. We knew the rules, Joe never reads the papers, so he didn't."
"Okay, what's your point, Kevin? Because right now, you're just kind of opening my wounds and I don't know if I like this." Said Ann triggered by the words he was saying.
"I actually don't know what my point is. I just wanted you to know it. That I think you could be the one to steady Joe."
"Maybe in another universe." She smirked.
"You know... The tour won't last forever. And so won't the rules. Just letting you know that. Hope you two lovebirds can keep it in your pants until that moment."
"Jesus!" She laughed and hid her face in her hands. He laughed too, punching her lightly on her arm.
"Am I interrupting something?" That was Joe. Standing now in the frame of the door, with his arms crossed.
"No, actually we just finished, if you want to take over." Kevin stood up and gestured him to the open seat next to Ann. Joe squinted his eyes at him as he disappeared into the cafeteria. He sat next to Ann and sighed.
"Brought you a cupcake." He handed her the same chocolate cupcake that they ate at the first meeting. She couldn't hold a smile as she took it from his hands.
"Thanks." She said silently.
"So, what did he want from you?"
"You don't have to know that." She squinted her eyes at him.
"But I want to."
"Sometimes we don't get what we want, Joseph." She said as she took a bite of the cupcake. "Oh, but I really wanted that cupcake." They both laughed.
"And what did you talk about with Jinjoo?"
"Oh my god, Joe. Stop being so nosy." She frowned at him, getting a little mad at the interrogation.
"Sorry. I'm just curious. Everyone's talking to you and nobody asked how I feel. They probably talk shit about me, right?"
"Well... you've got some... reputation." She nodded slowly and smiled. "But no, some good things were said too."
"Shocking." He rolled his eyes. "And that's for calling me nosy." He said as he pushed Ann's hand with the cupcake to her face, causing the chocolate to go all over her nose and cheeks.
"Joe!" She gasped as he laughed. "I can't believe you've just done that." She pushed him, still in shock as to what happened.
"Fortunately, I planned it all." He said with a smirk, pulling out a napkin from his pocket.
"You little bitch. You wanna play it like this? Okay, Joe, the war is on." She said squinting her eyes at him. "I'm going to get you when you least expect it."
"Okay, calm down and let me help you get cleaned." He laughed.
"Oh, you better. You owe me that." They both started laughing.
Joe gently rubbed the napkin on Ann's face as they kept laughing. She looked at him and saw happiness in his eyes. A new look. It suited him. They locked eyes and the laughing stopped. They were yet again left to the feeling of sparks and butterflies, but they knew they had to brush it off. It probably would keep on happening for some time, because it was all so fresh. Joe wiped the last spot and threw the napkin in the trash can next to him. He sighed and smiled at Ann.
"I like where this is going. Us. It feels natural. Just like it was supposed to happen from the beginning."
"I agree. You've got a friend in me. But, after today, also an enemy." She said squinting her eyes at him again, gaining a defensive position. "You better watch out, Jonas."
"How's your mom?" He asked catching Ann by surprise.
"I don't know. I haven't spoken to her in a few days now. So much has been going on that I didn't even find the time to call her."
"Fly her to the show." Ann looked at him from under her eyelashes and chuckled.
"Joe, not everyone is a multimillionaire. Also, she hasn't been outside the house since the accident. It would be too much to her."
They talked for a while, before going back to practice. The second part of rehearsal went well too. They were all in sync and having a lot of fun. During 'Video Girl' Joe made her sing the 'OMG did you hear I'm dating a Jonas Brother? It's so hot!' part, which made everyone laugh. They fooled around on stage like they were old friends.
The rest of the week past in a blink of an eye. They had rehearsal everyday and also fittings, trying to find the best concert outfits. Ann settled for a glittery suit with shorts, black tights and high-heel boots. The emotions were raising with every day closer to the concert. She even found some time in between the busy schedule to finally call her mom. She told her about everything, except the Joe part. She didn't feel that it's necessary. She was very happy for her and wished her good luck. Ann said that Jazz will FaceTime her during the concert, so she'll see at least a snippet of it.
The day of the concert has finally arrived. Ann woke up very early, because of the excitement. The roommates ate breakfast together and then tried to pick an outfit for Jazz. They chose a glittery top and a black mini skirt. Jazz decided to go early with Ann to the venue, knowing that later there is going to be traffic everywhere. Ann dressed in a black tracksuit, because her outfit was at the venue. She was going to get her make up done there as well and she arranged a make up for Jazz too.
They arrived at the stadium and Ann hold Jazz hand while they entered the arena.
"Are you ready?" She smiled at her as they walked on the open space. There were a lot of people running around, making sure everything was perfect. Everything was starting to shape and Ann jumped in excitement.
"This is massive." Jazz looked around seeing all the empty seats.
"I know." She sighed and squealed. "Jazz, it's happening."
"Well, well. If it isn't my favorite partner in crime." They turned around to see Joe coming up to them with a can of beer in his hand.
"Hey, you!" Ann laughed and ran up to him to hug him. Jazz was a little surprised at the change of events, but played along.
"Joe Jonas. Finally meeting you in... normal circumstances." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hi, Jasmine, right? I've heard so much about you." He shook her hand. "Welcome! Make yourself comfortable."
"M-hmmm. I will, don't you worry about that." She eyed him, trying to intimidate him.
"So, are you nervous? Excited? Scared?" He focused his attention back to Ann and lightly pushed her shoulder.
"All of it, probably. But mostly excited." She smiled at him.
"You're going to do great." He smiled back.
They had their final rehearsal, Jazz watching from the corner, cheering her friend. Then they started to get ready, starting from make up and hair. Ann was never keen on full face make up. Most of the days she didn't wear makeup at all, but if she did it was a natural look. But she liked what she saw in the mirror. They curled her hair a little and then she got dressed in her outfit. Jazz was assisting her the whole time, making sure everything looks perfect on her.
"Look at you." She started clapping and shaking her head.
"I feel like it's too much."
"Girl, no! You look like a rockstar!" Jazz made her spin. There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it."
She opened the door slightly and had a really quiet conversation with someone behind the doors. She then smiled at Ann and left the room, without saying a word.
The door opened and Joe came into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Ann. His eyes sparkled again. He was in awe at the sight. But not only him, Ann also was amazed at how Joe looked. He was wearing very sparkly pair of trousers and a black tank top, topped with a leather jacket. His curls usually messy, now were settled into a steady position. They stood there silently, admiring the view. Joe closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to snap out of it.
"You... wow." He was stumbling on his words and Ann felt a bit of nervousness in his voice.
"You what?" She raised an eyebrow at him, wanting to hear the words.
"You look incredible." He brushed his neck.
"So do you." She smiled at him. "Love those." She pointed at his pants.
"We're kind of matching." He noticed, looking at Ann's glittery suit. "Okay, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I think so. Are we about to go on?"
"The support is starting to play now, so we still have about half an hour."
"Okay, that's good. I'm going to go find Jazz." She smiled at him and walked in the direction of the doors.
"Wait." This made her stop in her tracks. "Before you go, I have a surprise for you." She turned around to see Joe with a wide smile on his face.
"What? Joe..." she sighed scared as to what he made. She was hoping it was nothing romance related.
"Trust me." He threw his hand over her waist and guided her through the corridor.
Her heart was racing, but she was also very excited. She liked surprises. They stood in front of one of the doors to a room like any other in the building. Joe stood in front of her and gave her a reassuring smile.
"What is this, Joe?" Ann chuckled, not really knowing what to expect.
"It's a very special day for you today. So I can't imagine it happening without the most important person in your life by your side." He said and gestured to the door. Her face lit up, at the realization as to who is he referring to.
"No way..." She whispered and ran into the room.