It had been a week after the premiere when I actually sat down with Alfie and talked about what happened. He listened contently, as I explained every single detail to him. When I was done, he seemed to understand and he apologized, telling me that he would stop trying to protect me. I told him that I was sorry for how I acted in the car but he waved me off, saying that I was right and that he needed to stop being overly protective.
After that, everything seemed to go back to normal. I would visit Joe here and there and sometimes he would come here to Brighton. But over the past week, we hadn't really seen or talked to each other.
"Still waiting?" Troye asked me as he put some Nutella on his toast. I swear to god, he was crazy some times, considering that it was 11:30 at night.
"Maybe." I said and looked up at him, not really wanting to admit that indeed I was waiting for Joe to reach out to me.
"You want some Nutella?" He asked as I nodded diligently. Troye put Nutella on my toast and he put his plate beside me, passing me my own. We both took a bite in unison.
"My god," Troye breathed, as I looked at him, after taking another bite.
"You have chocolate all over your face," I said as he licked his lips.
"Is it gone now?" He asked as I nodded and smiled.
I took another bite as my phone rang, Joe's name flashing on the screen. I looked at Troye as I quickly swallowed my food and pressed the green accept button.
"Hello?" I said.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Joe asked.
"No don't worry," I assured him.
"I was just, God how do I say this?" He seemed to question himself.
I stayed silent as I waited for him to continue on.
"Well there's this Christmas party, with all these YouTubers like Zoë, Alfie, Marcus, Tanya, and Jim and I was wondering if you wanted to come? Troye's invited as well." He tacked on.
"When is it?" I asked.
"Tomorrow." He replied quickly.
"Let me just quickly ask Troye." I said as I put my phone on mute.
"Joe invited you and I to this YouTuber party, Zoë and Alfie are gonna be there too." I explained to him.
"It's tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, it is."
"I think Zoë mentioned it to me, and I wanted to ask you about it but I forgot."
"Are you in?" I asked as I looked at my phone, taking it off of mute.
"Definitely."
I put my phone to my ear as Troye agreed to come.
"Joe?"
"Yep?"
"I just talked to Troye and I think that we'll come."
"I forgot to mention to you that it's a two night thing. So make sure you and Troye pack a bag." His voice said on the other end of the line.
"Thanks for the invite Joe." I said.
"I'll see you tomorrow Alyssa."
"Bye." I said as I hung up the phone.
"Look at you getting an invite to a party from Joe!" Troye said excitedly and winked.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?"
"Not as long as I'm around."
"When are you leaving to go back to Perth?" I asked, dreading the answer. I really didn't want Troye to leave.
"In two weeks, just before Christmas." He said sadly. I nodded and was about to get up to put my plate in the sink when I stopped and turned to him.
"By the way, Joe told me that we have to pack a bag because it's a two day thing." I said as I got up and went around the counter to put my plate in the sink.
"I think he only meant that you have to pack a bag," Troye replied, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Troye Sivan Mellet! I'm going to kill you." I glared at him as he bursted out laughing.
"You could never do that, you love me....as much as you love Joe."
"Sivan, I'm warning you!" I threatened as he put his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay, I'm done. Lets just get those bags packed." Troye said as he laughed.
After we each packed our bags, Troye and I sat on the couch as we talked about the Christmas Party.
"It's definitely gonna be interesting," I said.
"Just saying, if I get drunk, you need to make sure that I won't do anything I'll regret."
"Considering its you and I, I'll probably be drunk with you." I said as Nala barked playfully, jumping on my lap.
"I noticed you packed a fancy looking dress, what for?"
"If I'm getting wasted at a party, I might as well do it with style and with my favourite Australian."
"I'm the only Australian that you know."
"Way to ruin the moment."
"I made that moment truthful, there's a difference."
"Uh huh." I said, not convinced.
"We're really talking about ruining moments at 12:30 in the morning."
"Speaking of, what time do we need to be at the hotel?" He tacked on.
"Alfie and Zoë will know, we'll ask them when they come back."
We never actually ended up asking Zoë and Alfie as the two of us fell asleep on the couch as we watched Finding Nemo in the background.
+
When we woke up, all you could hear was the sound of Zoë and Alfie shouting at each other to bring this and bring that. I shook Troye awake softly as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. He seemed startled at first before he sat up and yawned.
"Looks like someone didn't pack." Troye said as he looked at Zoë and Alfie as they ran around the house picking up various different items.
"No vlogging for you?" I asked him as we both walked up the stairs.
"Nah, I just wanna enjoy myself tonight."
"You sound like you wanna get super drunk." I noticed.
"Ah, the joys of being a 20 year old," he said.
"Try being 21," I called over my shoulder as the two of us went our separate ways. I walked into the bathroom and sighed as I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower. I was just brushing my hair after putting on my clothes when Zoë yelled at Troye and I, telling us to come downstairs.
"Just a minute!" Troye and I called to her in unison. I grabbed my bag that I had packed with everything I needed before I exited the room and walked down the stairs.
"Is everyone here?" Zoë asked as she looked around the flat. Alfie, Troye and I nodded as we all walked towards the front door, putting on our shoes and exiting out the door.
As we all piled into the car, Zoë went into the drivers seat and turned on the radio. It was either just me, because as we drove to our destination the music got progressively louder and louder and soon enough we were all singing along.
When we pulled up to a gate, Troye and I looked at each other in surprise. The gate opened, and as Zoë drove down the gravel road, it revealed a parking lot.
She found a parking spot fairly quickly as we all got out of the car and opened the trunk, each of us taking out our bags. Alfie had his camera in hand and he began to vlog again. Troye and I walked ahead of Zoë and Alfie, both of us eager to go inside.
"Clearly, whoever organized this, takes their shit seriously," Troye said and I nodded in agreement. We walked inside and was immediately greeted by a clerk.
"Hello! You're here for the YouTube party right?" She chirped as Troye and I nodded. Since Zoë and Alfie knew most of the details, Troye and I let them handle the check in. After a few minutes, Zoë and Alfie thanked the clerk and quickly rushed over to us.
"We're all in the same room, which is odd, but we might as well check it out." Zoë said.
"Here's your room keys," Alfie said as he handed Troye and I our key. My phone buzzed in my pocket as we walked to the elevator. I pulled it out curiously and saw a text from Joe.
Joe: Are you here?
Me: Yeah, we just got here.
Joe: What's your room number?
Me: 325...
Joe: I'll see you soon Alyssa ;)
I looked at the last text from him, confused as I walked into the elevator. Alfie pressed floor 3, making the number light up. The elevator started to move and we waited several seconds before the elevator made a ding sound, signifying that we were on our floor.
Once we were off the elevator, we started to search for our room and as we turned a corner, I saw Joe leaning against the wall. His eyes connected with mine as he smiled and waved. I held up my hand slightly as we walked towards him.
"Why the hell are you all in one room?" He asked us as we approached him.
"It's nice to see you too Joe," Zoë muttered as she grabbed her key card from her back pocket. She opened the door as we all filed inside the door, even Joe. He trailed behind me as we looked around the room.
"How are we supposed to fit on these?" I asked as I motioned towards the two queen sized beds.
"Look there's a second floor!" Alfie said and motioned for us to come with him. I followed him up the stairs and took a look around.
"You and Zoë can have this floor," I said as I raised my eyebrows, looking at the one king sized bed. Troye nodded in agreement, with me as we made our way downstairs.
"I heard that dinner's at 7:30." Joe informed us as I followed him downstairs.
"What time is it now?" Troye asked.
"4:30..." Joe said, looking at his phone. He was now sitting on one of the two beds. Troye was on the other one, so basically Joe was on my bed. I grabbed my bag and put it on the foot of my bed as Joe patted the space beside him.
"You're lucky, you two," Joe muttered.
"Now why are we lucky?" I asked him carefully, as I sat on the edge of the bed beside him.
"You two have a huge ass room! I mean my room's big, but not this big."
"At least you don't have to share a room with Alyssa." Troye joked as I grabbed a pillow behind me and threw it at him, resulting in him falling off the bed as he tried to dodge it.
Joe bursted out laughing beside me as I looked at Troye who was just getting up from the ground. I looked at Joe, whose face was red not expecting Troye to retaliate. Instead Troye came up behind me as I laughed at the two boys and pushed me.
Onto Joe.
It seemed like everything stopped for a moment as Joe held me by my arms, preventing me from falling on him. I could see his eyes flickering from my eyes to my lips as we both looked at each other in complete shock. I scrambled off of him in a hurry and watched as he slowly got up, his eyes still on me.
"I think I'm gonna let you both get ready," he said as he jumped off the bed swiftly and walked towards and out the door. It closed shut as I swore incoherent words under my breath.
"Alyssa I didn't mean to-" Troye tried to apologize but I cut him off.
"It wasn't your fault," I said as I looked at him.
"At least we can get ready," he stated softly, trying to look on the bright side.
"Yeah, we can."
+
It seemed that dinner went by fast as they brought out appetizers, then our main course and finally dessert. All of the sudden, a woman appeared at the front, telling us that there was actually going to be a party that started now in the next room.
As soon as the she said the word 'party' Troye smiled and looked over at me. We all followed the woman to the next room, where there was a dance floor, a DJ booth and a bar. She told us to have fun as she left the room in a hurry, leaving us to our own devices. I looked around the room only to see Joe walking up towards Troye and I.
"I haven't seen you guys all night!" He slurred as he grabbed our shoulders and led us to the dance floor.
"How many drinks have you had, Joe?" I asked carefully as I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"A lot." He whispered in my ear, loud enough that I could hear him over the music.
"Do you want a drink?" Troye asked as I nodded and he disappeared from the crowd, leaving Joe and I alone.
"You wanna get drunk, Alyssa?" He asked as he grabbed my hand.
"You're already drunk Joe."
"That's true," he admitted.
He grabbed my other hand as someone put on a slow song, and pulled me closer. I bit my lip as he placed my hands on his shoulders and we swayed to the song. I saw Troye come up behind him and tap his shoulder.
"Can I take her away for a moment?" He asked. Joe nodded and let go of me as Triye cut in, handing me a red cup. I took a sip, letting the alcohol burn down my throat.
"What's up with Joe?" He asked as I shrugged.
"He's drunk." I said as I took another sip of my own drink. Troye nodded and began to dance as the slow song ended and a faster song came on. I let out a laugh as he motioned for me to join him. I didn't know how long we were dancing for but it seemed like a while. Once it went back to slow songs, I looked at Troye who laughed and we both left the dance floor. We made our way towards the bar, and Troye ordered more drinks.
"I'll be one sec, I gotta go to the bathroom." I said as he received our drinks. Troye nodded once and put the cups down as I left the room, trying to find the bathroom. I turned a corner, only to see something that made me stop.
Joe.
It was the thing that he was doing, was what shocked me.
He was making out with a girl.
I tried to shrug it off, telling myself that he could do whatever he wanted. That he was single, but I couldn't help but think about the day of the premiere and all the countless times that he told me that he didn't want to screw things up between us.
I couldn't help but stare at him as he pulled away from her and looked at the girl in confusion as his gaze caught mine. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I bit my lip and tried to hold the sobs that were trying to escape from me. As I turned around and started to walk back to the party, I waited until everyone was out of sight before I leaned against the wall as realization hit me.
I liked him a lot.
Just admit it.
I like him.
Just say it.
Fuck, I'm falling in love with Joe.
+
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to express all your feelings in the comments! I really hope you guys like what I have planned for the next chapter!
-Angelina