At about 2:00 Joey finally woke up on his own terms. However his head was pounding and his stomach didn't feel any better but since he did have a show that night and he didn't want to go back to sleep because he knew if he did it would result in waking up with shaving cream, or some other interestingly yucky foreign substance, coating his face. He decided to slowly get up and join the land of the living. He sat up a little quickly and got a bit of a head rush. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up, walked to the door and sort of staggered down the hall.
"Hey JoJo! Nice to see you've regained consciousness!" JC said a little too loudly for Joey's liking.
"Yeah! You know I always did wonder what alcohol did to the 'man-of-steel'" Grace joked, "and now I know…" she paused for dramatic effect then finished by saying, "the same thing as Kryptonite!" and the whole room erupted in laughter.
"You guys! Come on. When was the last time I made fun of you? When do I taunt you when you drank a little too much? I don't! I rarely, if ever, make fun of any of you and you, like, constantly crack jokes at my expense. I don't like it so if you don't mind. Please, kindly back off!!" Joey exclaimed storming off back to the bedroom where the CD player was next to a stack of CDs he'd brought in from the car the previous afternoon. He stuck in the album that was on top of the pile, which just happened to be a hard rock album, and turned it up despite the fact that his head was pounding along with the rhythm. There was a knock on the door. Joey didn't hear the knock so they opened the door and stood there. Joey paused the album reluctantly and sat up to make room for Grace to sit down at the end of the bed. Grace sat down. Joey spoke first, "So… what have you come to make fun of now? Are my eyes bloodshot or what? I need to shave? Well I'll take care of it before I leave." Joey snapped looking away, about to un-pause his CD.
"Wait!" Grace said as she grabbed Joey's arm away from the boom box stereo. "Wait. I didn't come in here to make fun of you about your eyes or your hair or bash on you in any way shape or form." She paused and looked up (she'd been picking at the bedspread beneath her.) She looked into his caramel colored eyes and with all sincerity she said, "I came to apologize. You were right. We all make fun of you too much and I'm really sorry." Grace finished moving to get up and leave.
This time Joey grabbed her arm and pulled her back down and said simply, "Thank you. Thanks a ton. That's just what I needed to hear."
Grace nodded and stood up but halfway to the door she paused and turned around, "Ya know what JoJo? You've been here for a whole day now and we haven't even gotten a chance to really talk. What do you say to talking to little old me for a bit? We hadn't seen each other in like three months and we haven't gotten a chance to catch up. I've spent more time with Lance and JC." She grinned.
He smiled, well sort of, stopped the CD and patted the spot besides him saying, "I say…I thought you'd never ask. Sit down." He finalized his statement with a huge smile. Grace flopped down on the bed. Joey laughed and said, "So…what's up with you and Lance?" he asked glad he could finally ask what was on his mind.
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