| Chapter Twelve "Well, you can use my room if you like." "Thanks Joe, I won't take long." I said brushing past him down the hall to his room. I tried my best not to look up at him as he came into the room. I took a quick shower and changed. I was applying my makeup when there was a knock on the door. "Yeah?: "Tiff, can we talk?" Joe's muffled voice asked through the door. "Sure." I said coming out. "What do you want to talk about?" "What happened earlier, I'm really sorry about that." "Why should you be sorry? It wasn't that big of a deal." "It was to me though, even though I was sleeping. I have wanted all of those things to happen between us. All of those things and more." He blushed slightly and I turned away. "Joe, those things can't happen between us. I'm in no way ready for anything like that. I have to take control of my life now, and getting into a relationship isn't going to help." I sighed. "You are a fantastic guy, and I love you, don't get me wrong. It just isn't the time, you know?" "I know, of course I know. I'm really sorry for making this awkward, I just felt that I needed to tell you how I feel while I had the nerve." He turned to leave the room. "Joe, wait, don't leave. We can't just leave it like this." I said touching his arm lightly. "I want all of those same things, I have just started to realize this. The way you make me feel. No one has ever made me feel that way before. All you have to do is look my way and I'm afraid I'm going to melt. I do want to be with you, there are just so many things running through my head." I took a deep breath and continued. "Robbie is my main concern. How would we affect your family? How would it look?" "Tiff, Rob has been gone for four years now. I know for a fact that he would want you to be happy. Our families would deal with it, it may be hard at first but I think that they would be ok with it." He pulled me into a hug. "When you are ready, I'll be waiting. I'll wait forever if I have to." "Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me. But please don't put your life on hold for me, it may take quite some time before I'm ready." "I think that you're worth the wait." I pulled away then and finished getting ready. An hour later I met Carly in the lobby and we set out for the day. We did HUGE credit card damage, but it was just what we needed. We hadn't done anything together in so long that it was like getting to know each other all over again. I was reminded that day why she was my best friend. She listened without criticizing, she understood everything that I thought or felt. She was completely honest with me even if I didn't want to hear it. And damn could that girl make me laugh!! We got back to the hotel around 6 and she started to get changed, telling me that she was going to dinner with Chris. Their first official "date". I decided to curl up with a book and some movies. She left around 7 and I was just getting into Armageddon when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and Lance was standing on the other side. "Hey Lance, what's up?" "Just came to see what you were up to. The others all went out and I didn't really feel like going. Thought maybe you could use some company?" He asked batting his eyes and pouting. "Oh now how could I resist that?" I laughed pulling him into the room. We watched movies and talked the rest of the night. I tried to explain to him what was happening with Joey and he totally understood. We talked about Mark quite a bit, and I shed more tears than I thought I had left. We fell asleep at some point on the couch. He had his arms wrapped around me and it felt good to have another friend in my life. We were woken by cursing and the door slamming. I instantly knew who it was and my face went pale. "Joey." Lance whispered getting up and going to the door. I was quick to follow. |