"Good night, Justin." Danielle said, as they stepped onto the front porch.
Justin bent down and lightly pressed his lips against hers. "Good night."
Danielle rested her hands on his chest, and stood up on her tiptoes, kissing him once more. This kiss was much longer, and involved a bit more tongue action.
Finally, they pulled apart, breathless.
"I would invite you in, but, I have to work early tomorrow." Danielle murmured.
Justin nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, ok?"
"You will? I thought you had to spend the day recording to meet deadline."
"Oh, yeah. Can you drop by the studio? There's a song I wanna run by you."
"Ok."
Justin bent down and kissed her once more. "I love you, baby."
"I love you, too. Bye."
"Bye."
Danielle watched him walk to his car before going inside.
To her surprise, Joey was pacing back and forth in the living room, rocking Noah, who was whimpering softly ever couple seconds.
Danielle crept quietly into the room, watching Joey. They hadn't spoken much since she had chosen Justin over him. And she felt a bit awkward around him.
"Joey?" she asked.
"Shhh," Joey hushed her. "He just stopped crying."
"Sorry," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"JC called me up and said he couldn't stay here anymore, but, he didn't want to leave Katie alone, in case she got really depressed and did something drastic. So, he asked me to come over. But he didn't tell me why he left."
"Oh. . . I'll ask Katie in the morning."
Joey nodded.
"Do you want me to take him?" Danielle asked.
Joey shook his head. "No. I kinda like the little guy."
Danielle walked over to them.
"He had your eyes. Big and round and beautiful."
She smiled.
You and Justin sure made one hall of a cute kid."
"He is adorable isn't he?"Danielle chuckled.
Joeynodded. "I can't help but wish he was mine. Ours."
Danielle's heart sank. "What?"
"You know how I feel about you, and when I look at what you and Justin have together, I wonder what if it had been me?"
Danielle put one hand on Joey's arm. "Oh, Joey,"
Joey shrugged her away, and sat down on the couch.
"I thought you were ok with this whole thing."
"I am, but-"
"I mean, you were the reason I chose Justin." she cut him off.
Joey looked up. "What?"
Danielle say down on the edge of the coffee table. "You told me to. And I thought that since you were fine with me being with Justin, I wouldn't break his heart."
"What are you saying?"
Danielle took a deep breath. "The night this whole thing happened, Chris gave me some advice. He said to sleep on it. And the first person I thought of when I woke up was the one I really wanted. " she looked up into Joey's eyes. "You were the one I thought of."
Joey nearly dropped Noah. "So, you mean, if I hadn't said anything. . . ?"
Danielle nodded.
"God, I'm an idiot."
Danielle laughed.
"But, your happy now, right?"
She nodded.
"Then it was worth it."
"There's one thing I'm not happy about."
"What?" Joey asked.
"Us. We haven't been as close as we used to be. I want our friendship back. It's the only thing in my life I've ever trusted completely."
Joey grinned. "It's back."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Good, cuz, it's late, and I need to go to bed, and I really didn't wanna have a big discussion about it."
Joey chuckled. "Go on, then, I'll put Noah to bed, then go home."
"You can crash in my room, if you want." Danielle said. "Like 'old times'."
"I just might." Joey nodded.
Danielle stood up, and gave Noah a kiss on the forehead, then Joey a kiss on the cheek.
"Your gonna make a great daddy one day, Joe." she whispered.
Joey smiled. "Thanks."
Part Forty Two
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Part Forty Four